With Grace and Elegance
by Grounders10
Summary: When Principal Kuno is arrested it begins a series of events that introduces Ranma to life aboard the school ship of St. Gloriana Girls College and an adventure of Tea and Tanks.
1. Chapter One: The Good and The Bad

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With Grace and Elegance

A Girls Und Panzer/Ranma ½ Crossover

Chapter One: The Good and the Bad

By: Grounders10

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For the students of Furinkan High School seeing their 'principal' suffer consequences for whatever stunt or bizarre scenario, he had concocted that day was nothing new. True he normally managed to escape anything truly lasting, but there was always a price.

That price was not normally being carried, unconscious and bound in chains, by police out of the main entrance of Furinkan High to a waiting police van. That did not, however, stop crowds of students from cheering as the much-derided principal Kuno left the premises under heavy police escort for what everyone hoped was the last time.

Above the crowds, on the roof of the school, two people stood looking down. One, a young man with his black hair braided at the neck, was leaning against the doorframe of the staircase that led down into the school. His attention was focused not on the departure of the principal he had good reason to hate, but on the other occupant of the roof, a young woman with brown hair who was just half a foot shorter than he was.

"Never thought I'd see the day." He said to her. He wasn't referring to the scene down below, though he was certainly glad to see the bastard gone.

She snorted. "Surprised I have standards?" She quipped without turning around, her eyes were tracking the ambulance as it left the school. She missed the flat stare he was giving the back of her head.

"Yen operated Helicopter." He replied.

She shrugged. "Like I said. I have standards." She replied before turning around and leaning against the chain-link fence that ran the perimeter of the roof. She frowned at him. "You don't think I'd condone something like _that_… Do you?" She asked. She sounded just a bit angry at the implication.

"Because you've been such an upstanding example of moral righteousness." He drawled sarcastically before shaking his head. "Never crossed my mind you'd approve of what he did, Nabiki. Just never expected you to be the one to call the police."

"This wasn't a problem you could just punch until it went away." She said, "There are going to be consequences for what happened today. For all of us." She seemed uncertain for a moment so brief he would have missed it if he'd blinked.

"New principal might be nice." He replied with a shrug before wandering over to peer down at the slowly dispersing crowds below.

"You really have no idea just how important he is, do you?" Nabiki asked.

"He's a principal. He's not that important at the end of the day." He said, turning to look at her as he did.

Nabiki reached into her pack and pulled out a map. "Here's a freebie Saotome." She said as she unfolded it and held it out towards him. He raised an eyebrow at it.

"What's a map of the school district have to do with this?" He asked. Left unsaid was the question of why she had it on her.

"How many schools do you see in the district that are higher than middle schools?" She asked.

He blinked and did a quick count off the map. "Three?" He said after a double check. All of them were clustered near each other.

"Did you know that is three more high schools than the next four districts combined?" She asked.

"What?" That didn't make any sense. "Where the hell is everyone supposed to go to school?" He asked. He may not have liked school, but given how important everyone else treated it he'd have thought there would be a lot more than three.

Nabiki rolled her eyes before pulling out a couple of pamphlets from her bag. She handed them to him. He glanced down at them. The first bore a crest of a black cross, while the other had a teapot and teacup that were steaming a trail of pink flowers. They were for schools on… he tilted his head and flipped them open.

"School-ships?" He muttered. Schools on giant ships? When did this happen?

"I'd ask how the hell you don't know this, but that would require me to forget you've spent your entire life living under a rock." Her sarcasm could have stripped the last of the paint off the side of the building. He barely winced, months of living in the same home as her had long since inoculated him to her sharp tongue… most of the time.

"What does this have to do with that." He gestured at the map.

Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Nineteen Sixty-Three the Diet decided they wanted to cut costs for education by finding, what did they call it." She paused for a moment. "'Creative Solutions'. Someone managed to pitch the idea of creating giant floating schools and just shipping all of the high school students off into the great blue sea."

"Uuummm…" He started.

She waved him off. "Yeah I know it sounds stupid. Giant ships need massive crews to run, and crews of that size cost a lot more than a brick and mortar school with teachers. They got around that by deciding to make the students do most of the work. They still claim it builds character but…" She rolled her eyes, "Anyway some people, rich people, really didn't like the idea of all of their kids floating around at sea without their personal supervision. That's where the Kunos come into this whole tale. The Kunos at the time didn't like the idea that they'd be sending their kids off."

He swallowed and looked at the map with its trio of dots. He was getting a feeling of where this was headed.

"So they made a deal." Nabiki continued.

"A deal." He echoed, "For the schools."

She folded the map and slipped it into her bag. "Two-thirds of the school's operating budget would be paid by the Kunos along with all upgrades needed to keep up with building-codes and any expansions needed. Used to be six schools in the district were under their thumb. Two had to close due to dropping enrollment, while St. Hebereke managed to find other private sponsors." She said, taking the pamphlets from him.

"And now he just got dragged off for…" He trailed off, trying not to think about the events of earlier that day.

"Yeah." Nabiki sighed. "Practically the Kuno name may as well be made of plutonium for how much anyone is going to want to be in contact with it. Legally or not. It's not like they were well loved before anyway. They created more than a few enemies over the years, and now its open season."

He snorted and leaned against the chain-link. "Gee, wonder how that happened." He snarked. The Kunos were, one and all, insane and it was a small wonder they had even survived as long as they had even before then.

"I don't know what's going to happen, but this could have some very negative repercussions for the school," Nabiki said before heading for the door. "See you back home Ranma." She waved over her shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah." He said sighing. Well, this was a giant mess, and one completely outside his ability to do anything about. He rattled the chain-link with a finger, accidentally bending the wire mesh as he did so. He looked down at the still jubilant, but much diminished, crowd and sighed. Nabiki was rarely wrong, but maybe…

"Different school wouldn't be that bad." He mused softly. Hell, maybe he'd even get away from all the girls trying to marry him. He wished the Amazons luck trying to find him in the middle of the Pacific.

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The school had been closed for a week after what was becoming known as "The Kuno Scandal" on both the TV news and in the newspapers. Furinkan had never been the most well-liked school, even in the area. Low grades and rumours of poor education tended to follow most graduates from it for the rest of their lives.

The less said about the quirks students tended to develop while attending the better.

Still, despite its poor reputation it had managed to remain open when other school afflicted with such issues closed down. Ranma, after his conversation with Nabiki, suspected that it probably had to do with the Kunos greasing the right hands. This scandal, however, was proving to be far more damaging than merely turning out poor graduates year after year. Those could be excused, or ignored, at the government's discretion. While those were the equivalent of minor bumps and bruises to a school, this was like someone had broken both its legs and left it in a slowly flooding ditch to drown. Without outside help, there was no way the school could reasonably survive it.

It was two weeks after they had returned to classes that Ranma returned to the Tendo Dojo bearing what was, in essence, the execution notice for the school.

He slid open the front door and shouted, "I'm back," as he entered.

As he slid the door shut behind him his mother stepped out of the kitchen. "Welcome home Ranma." She smiled.

"Hello, mother." He said, "I've got bad news from school."

She blinked and frowned. "More fallout from what that man did?" She asked.

Ranma nodded and pulled the sealed envelope he'd been handed earlier out of his bag. "Ms. Ninomiya handed these out today. The school is being shut down at the end of March." He said.

His mother took the packet and began fiddling with the tab. "Why don't you go sit down. Kasumi and I were just preparing some snacks." She said.

Ranma stepped past her and headed for the sitting room. As he turned the corner he bumped into someone else coming the other way and felt the familiar, and annoying, sensation of something cold and wet slopping onto him. The world grew around him as he lost a foot of height and became a girl.

She sighed and looked up into the chagrined expression of the eldest tendo daughter. "Kasuuumiiii." She whined. Behind her, she heard a suppressed giggle from her mother. Yes, laugh at her misfortune...

"I'm sorry Ranma." The brunette apologized as she stepped back. In her hands was a jug of water. "I was just coming to say hello."

Ranma brushed a loose strand of red hair behind her ear and sighed. "It's fine Kasumi." She said.

"Why don't you go sit down. I'll bring some snacks out Ranma." The older girl said.

"Sure," Ranma said.

"Hold on a second," Nodoka said, her voice sounding a bit confused as she shuffled through papers.

Ranma and Kasumi both turned to her. "What is it?" Ranma asked.

"Is something wrong Auntie?" Kasumi asked.

Nodoka looked up from the papers with a frown. "Ranma, do you know why these papers are transferring you to Oarai Girl's Academy?"

Ranma blinked. "What?" She asked. Silently her mother pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to her. The redhead looked it over. It was an order to transfer her to… Oarai Girl's Academy… She frowned. Somehow she just knew this was that bastard of a Principal's fault.

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"You're what?"

Ranma sighed as Akane stared at her for a long moment before she started to giggle. "Being transferred to a girl's school." She sighed. "This has to be the nuts fault." She grumbled.

Akane stopped giggling and frowned. She cast a look across the living room to where Nodoka was sitting with the phone trying to find out what was going on. "But, he's in custody, right?" She asked. She sat down at the table and started digging through her bag.

"He's got a lot of money." Ranma said, "A lot of money and you know how the teachers were always terrified to go against him." It was really pathetic how most teachers in Furinkan just rolled over and acquiesced to Principal Kuno's demands, no matter how strange or illegal they were. Only Ms. Ninomiya had had the nerve to stand up to him, but even she had spent most of her time hounding the students.

Akane frowned as she pulled out the envelope she had been given and opened it. She flipped through the papers and quickly pulled out the transfer orders. She sighed with relief. "I'm being transferred to Kuromorimine Girls Academy."

Lucky her.

"At least one of you has stayed out of whatever is going on," Nodoka said as she set down the phone. "The school says they'll look into it and get back to me tomorrow. With all due luck, we can get this sorted quickly."

Ranma and Akane exchanged a look. The sometimes girl was pretty sure that her fiancee was thinking the exact same thing as her. She looked back to her mother and voiced that thought. "It's the Kunos mum, this won't be simple."

"Perhaps. However, this might just be a simple mistake." Her mother said, "People misfile paperwork all the time."

Kasumi entered the room at that moment bearing snacks and a glass of appropriately hot water. Ranma snatched the glass of water from her and poured it over her head.

He stretched and sighed. "That's better." He said, ignoring his fiancee's eye-roll and Kasumi's giggle.

"I wouldn't be too hopeful Auntie," Kasumi said after she stopped giggling and started distributing snacks. "As much as I don't like thinking about it we have had a great deal of trouble with those people in the past."

"You're really underselling it Kasumi." Akane sighed. The older sister merely shrugged.

Nodoka sighed. "Well, all of you seem determined to be pessimists today." She said, "I'm sure this is all a mistake and we can get it cleared away within a week or two." She picked up on of the cookies Kasumi had brought out and bite into it. "A very nice batch Kasumi dear."

"Thank you, Auntie," The younger woman smiled.

The front door banged opened and shut and angry feet could be heard stomping down the hallway. A belated "I'm home" was half-heartedly shouted as Nabiki reached the room.

Over the last couple of years, Ranma had, after a great deal of personal suffering, learned to recognize the mood the mercurial mercenary that was the middle-Tendo sibling. Right now he would put her mood somewhere between "I had to pay for my own lunch" and "He paid me in monopoly money". More towards the latter than the former at that.

"Oh dear. Is everything alright Nabiki?" Kasumi asked, starting to stand before Nabiki waved her back down as she joined the table.

"They lost my paperwork." She growled, dropping a familiar looking packet on the table. Ranma tilted his head to read the top of the page that was sticking out. Something, something transfer to Kuromorimine. Okay.

"What paperwork?" Akane asked.

"Yes, what exactly did they lose Nabiki?" Nodoka echoed.

Nabiki leaned against the table and braced herself on her elbows. One hand massaged the bridge of her nose like she was fighting a building headache. "Everything I've done this year." She said. Her sisters gasped while Ranma just nodded and mentally raised the number of punches he'd need deliver to the elder Kuno should they ever meet by a factor of two. If only because this was probably going to be detrimental on his wallet while Nabiki vented.

"That's unfortunate," Nodoka said slowly.

Nabiki snorted. "Unfortunate would be losing my paperwork for a single class. They've lost everything that even says I was taking classes. They say I can't take the finals unless I have the correct paperwork." She growled, "Can't take the finals, can't graduate this year."

Ranma raised it to a factor of three. His wallet was doomed. "So," He said, looking at his mother. "Looks like he wasn't happy just messing with me."

"Oh?" Nabiki raised an eyebrow.

"Ranma's transfer papers are for 10th grade at a girl's school," Akane said, her lips twitching.

Nabiki snorted. "Low hanging fruit." She said.

"This will take longer than a week or two to fix," Kasumi said to Nodoka.

The older woman nodded. "I think I need to make a few more phone calls." She said, getting up from the table and heading to the phone.

Akane glanced at Ranma and he shrugged, tossing a hand in the air to say he had no idea. Honestly, he knew so little about his own mother that the idea that she would expect him to know Nodoka's thought processes was ridiculous. Still, he had to wonder who she was calling.

Nabiki took a cookie and bit into it. "Oh, these are good Kasumi."

"Thank you, Nabiki." The eldest sister said.

From there things devolved into more normal topics of conversation.

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The next few weeks did little to inspire confidence. While at first Nodoka seemed to be making progress eventually she stopped talking about the matter at all unless asked and eventually everyone learned to avoid mentioning it as, after three weeks she had begun to get quite sharp with anyone who asked and even Nabiki had stopped inquiring. It was clear to everyone that whatever she was dealing with was more than just a little bit of bureaucratic mismanagement.

That was when Ranma started noticing a few odd things. While he was used to the strange, and indeed the last few weeks had contained their unfair share of several odd incidents including a cursed waffle iron, a type of magic garlic that made people who ate speak in languages even they didn't understand (though he suspected it might have been some European language), and at least three attempts to get him married to _someone_ including one particularly well-prepared ceremony with a besotted toad. And those didn't include the attempts to marry his female half either.

No the strange and unusual was almost commonplace around Ranma, still, even it had something of a waiting pattern. Things that broke that pattern were things to be noticed and measures were to be taken to prepare for their inevitable consequences. Like coming home to find everyone sending terrified glances at the kitchen usually meant he needed to somehow disappear before anyone could rat him out to Akane as a ritual sacrifice on the altar of her latest horrific cooking attempt.

To be fair that was not even an uncommon occurrence anymore. Not only was she better than she had been, but between Kasumi and Nodoka she rarely got a chance in the first place.

Odd bird calls of out of season birds, he had long since learned what birds were around when out of sheer necessity, started to show up half-way through the second week. By the third he had narrowly spotted two people dressed as, and who were probably trained as shinobi. It wasn't even a day after the second spotting that whoever had been attempting to spy on them had simply given up all subtlety and parked a black unmarked van down the street. He ran a lot of errands for Kasumi from then on. Just in case.

Still, while nothing direct was happening, as far as he knew, the odd occurrences just kept piling up. People in suits near the school, 's old place, the library, and both Ucchan's place and the Nekohanten.

When he eventually, as the third week dragged into the fourth, asked his mother she had simply smiled, hugged him, and told him not to worry. Which… Really hadn't helped. Nor had the three-day trip she had taken to "speak with someone who can help". He had no idea who she had spoken to. At all. Or what they had talked about, or…

There were a _lot_ of ors. Way too many ors. He hated being left out of the loop. It usually meant things were going to go horribly wrong soon… Mind you just being in Nerima meant something was going to go wrong soon.

It all changed one week into March when he arrived home from school along with Akane to find one of those black vans parked directly outside the gate of the Tendo Dojo.

Ranma scowled. "Them again." He said, stepping back around the corner of the perimeter wall the moment he noticed the van.

Beside him, Akane nodded as she peeked around the corner. "It has government license plates." She said.

"Yeah, I noticed that before." He said, "What on earth is going on?" His gaze had gone to the nearby rooftops and side streets. Unlike the last couple of weeks, there didn't appear to be anything else. A small hop allowed him to take a quick peek over the wall into the compound. Other than the usual plants there wasn't anyone in view. No one on the roofs around either. He repeated the process twice more just to be sure.

Akane sighed. "Well, let's go find out what's going on." She said, making to step around the corner. His hand on her shoulder stopped her. "What?" She asked, rounding on him.

He pointed up over the wall. "Let's go over the wall." He suggested. Without waiting for a response he scooped her up and jumped over the wall. To her credit, she managed to keep from making any more sound than a muffled squeak as he carried her over the wall.

Setting her down on the other side he flinched as her fist slammed into his gut. "Jerk." She snapped quietly.

"Did you have a better idea?" He asked, just as quietly. The two started to walk towards the main building. The yard was silent as they crossed. Birds, actual birds, chirped as they flitted from tree to tree around them, but other than that there was nothing. Not unusual for this time of day, but somehow with the vehicle outside it created a tense oppressive atmosphere.

Akane didn't get a chance to reply as they both heard the front door open. Without a word both of them dashed forward as quietly as they could, which for them meant making less noise than a mouse, and jumped the railing onto the porch where they took cover by the corner.

As they peered around the corner, which gave them a view of the gate but not the door into the house, several voices drifted around the corner.

"- be in touch again, once the agreement is properly registered." An unknown woman's voice said. She sounded somewhat nasally like she had a head cold or suffered from some medical issue.

"We will be waiting then." Ranma's mother said.

"Yes, yes. Just remember the terms." The other woman said. There was the sound of feet on stone as a short overweight woman in a particularly unflattering brown pinstripe suit walked into view on her way to the gate. "And remember I'll need to see the girl next time. So make sure she's here and presentable." She called before stepping through the gate. It swung shut behind her but didn't close properly.

Ranma and Akane exchanged looks. "Girl?" She mouthed at him.

"This better not be like the French guy," Ranma muttered back. She scowled and mimed gagging. Neither of them had liked Picolet Chardin and the freak with the gigantic mouth had given Ranma nightmares for weeks after they were down dealing with him.

"What an arrogant bitch." Another new voice opined loudly. It was a woman's voice, rough and aged, with a distinct hint of condescension in it.

"Language, please mother." Replied Ranma's mother.

"What?" Ranma mouthed, mother? Akane shot him a look and he just shrugged helplessly. His mother had just called this other person… mother… which would make her _his_ grandmother. He had a grandmother?

Akane looped an arm around his and dragged him around the corner. "Come on Ranma." She hissed, "let's go find out."

He let her drag him around the corner but pulled his arm free before they reached the next corner. She shot him a look which he ignored. Letting her drag him around the corner would give the wrong impression.

Stepping out onto the stone path they found Nodoka talking with a slightly taller woman with mostly grey hair except for a few strands of red still visible. Behind the two of them, standing in the doorway was Kasumi.

The eldest Tendo sister smiled and waved. "Ranma, Akane, welcome home." She said, interrupting a budding argument between the other two women.

"Hello, Kasumi," Akane said, smiling and waving back.

"Hey." Ranma waved once before pointing his hand back towards the gate. "Who was that?" He asked, looking to his mother.

Nodoka sighed and adjusted her kimono. "That was Rio Miyabe, a social worker with the government." She said, "And the source of many issues over the last month and a half."

"Are you finally going to tell us what's going on?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yes. First though, something else." She gestured to the woman next to her. "Ranma this is my mother, your grandmother, Himawari Hayashida. The Matriarch of the Hayashida School of Sensha-do."

Ranma bowed at the waist politely. "Hello, Grandmother." He said, "It's good to meet you." What was Sensha-do? It sounded familiar. Way of the Tank was an odd name…

Beside him, Akane bowed and echoed his greeting.

Himawari smiled and bowed slightly in return. "It is good to finally be allowed to meet my grandson." She said, stepping forward as he rose from his bow. She looked him up and down and ran a hand along his chin. "Fortunately you seem to have inherited little of your father's countenance."

"Mother," Nodoka said warningly.

Himawari ignored her. "Your eyes and your chin remind me of my husband, your grandfather." She said, "I wish he were still here to meet you."

"Ah… Well.." Ranma stammered a bit, a blush forming. His grandmother chuckled.

"Just the ramblings of an old woman, bear me no mind on that." She said, placing a hand on his back and gentling pushing him towards the door. "Now enough standing around out here. My Daughter has some important news to share. It's not good I'm afraid." Her smile had vanished as she led him into the house.

Kasumi smiled weakly as they passed. "I'll bring some snacks out." She said, disappearing into the kitchen. Behind them, he could hear Akane asking his mother what was going on.

"Soon Akane dear. I'll answer everything once we've dealt with a couple small details." She said. Ranma had to wonder what details she meant, though he had a suspicion that his curse was probably somewhere on the list. Hopefully, his grandmother didn't suffer from shock easily. She seemed fairly tough, but you never could tell.

"Tell me," Himawari said, "how are your classes going?"

He shrugged. "Everything's wrapping up. With the school shutting, down many of the teachers haven't really been bothering with the usual end of year projects." He said.

The older woman 'hmmed' as they entered the dining/living room and everyone quickly found seats. Akane and Ranma were on the side facing the patio door while the two older women sat across from them, their backs to the patio.

There were a few awkward seconds of silence before Kasumi came out of the kitchen with a tray bearing cookies, a teapot, and a glass of cold water. Setting everything down on the table she placed the glass of water in front of Ranma with an apologetic smile.

So the curse was on the list. He looked to his mother. "How much have you said?" He asked.

"She's shown me videos and pictures," Himawari said as Kasumi poured her a cup of tea. "Thank you Kasumi dear. It was enough to convince me she might not have completely lost her mind. Again mind you." She sipped the tea, not looking at her daughter.

Nodoka sighed. "Mother…" She said.

"I have yet to hear a better explanation for why you married that lump in the first place." His grandmother said, "And he hasn't exactly inspired confidence with the way he left you to deal with that woman today."

"Pops left?" Ranma asked, leaning forward against the table.

"Yes." Nodoka sighed, "When I filled him in on what was happening he bolted and took Soun with him." She scowled, her hands clenching the edge of the table hard enough to be visibly straining.

His grandmother sighed and set her tea down before turning to Nodoka and wrapping her in a hug. "He might be gone, but I am still here. This is not your burden alone."

Nodoka nodded stiffly and honestly looked closer to tears than Ranma had ever seen from her. "Thank you, mother." She said, pulling away. Himawari frowned at her daughter's back but returned to her place.

"Now," Nodoka gestured to the glass of water, "If you would Ranma."

He sighed before picking up the glass and emptying it over his head. The world grew ever so slightly. She shook her head, sending water droplets scattering around the room, and readjusted her shirt and pants.

All the while her eyes hadn't left her Grandmother. The first visible reaction from the old woman was the slight widening of her eyes before she leaned across the table.

"Hello, grandmother," Ranma said, the higher pitch of her voice caused the old woman to jump a bit before her eyes narrowed and one hand come up to run along her neck before taking her braid in hand and running the crimson strands between her fingers.

"Fascinating." She murmured. "I've never seen anything like this." Then the old woman's hand dipped.

Ranma squeaked and scrambled back a foot without leaving her seat. A blush formed swiftly. "Grandma!" She squawked.

"Mother!" Nodoka reprimanded.

The old woman just chuckled at them for a moment before leaning back thoughtfully. "From a man's man to a beautiful young woman. Remarkable. This does mean that you aren't mad daughter dear." She ignored the annoyed look Nodoka sent her. "However it does complicate things. This means that that woman has a leg to stand on."

Nodoka sighed. "It does." She said.

"Ummm?" Ranma looked from one to the other. "What does this," she gestured to herself, "have to do with that walking toad?"

Himawari snorted as Ranma's mother choked on her tea. "Over the last couple of months did she, or someone like her, speak with you?" Her grandmother asked.

"There've been a lot of suits around the school," Ranma said with a shrug.

Akane nodded. "With everything closing down and that investigation still going there've probably talked to everyone in the school at least twice." She said.

"Did they talk to you as a girl?" Nodoka asked.

"A few times," Ranma said, thinking back. There had been that second week in February where no matter what she did she always seemed to get splashed with water every few minutes as a guy. After the third incident in an hour, the teacher of that class had banned her from changing back for the rest of the day. That week had been when the suits had wanted to talk to her the most… "Actually." She said thoughtfully, "I don't think I spoke to them as a guy even once. That week was really bad for water-related accidents. Couldn't seem to spend ten minutes as a guy."

The two older women frowned. "Not even once?" Nodoka asked.

Ranma shook her head. "No."

"What did they want?" His grandmother asked.

"To know about how the school was run." Ranma said, "How the teachers were and if I had any other issues with things. Though, a couple of them seemed to keep asking questions about me and any… family…" Something clicked inside her head. "Mum, what's going on? Why was there a social worker here?" She asked pointedly.

Nodoka sighed. "There has been an investigation in allegations that I and your father, Soun is not involved in this as far as I know. That your father and I have been abusing you." She said.

That- Okay so maybe she hadn't lived a comfortable life, or really much of a _sane_ life, but child abuse? … Well, the Nekoken definitely counted.

"Why?" Akane asked.

"I can think of a few things." Ranma said flatly, "Neko-ken to start with."

"Oh, but still… That was Genma." Akane said, "Not your mother."

Himawari shook her head. "Nodoka essentially allowed Genma to run off with Ranma. On the condition of a suicide pact no less." She shot a glare at her daughter.

Nodoka flushed. "Seppuku is an honourable act." She said stiffly.

"An outdated and illegal act currently." His Grandmother responded. She turned back to Ranma and sighed. "However, that is not the current source of issues. When your mother inquired as to your placement at Oarai it brought light to an apparent issue with the school's records."

"A very odd issue." Nodoka said, "They found that the records listed you as a fifteen-year-old girl who should have been starting her first year _next_ year, and yet who was somehow placed into the second year class with Miss Ninomiya."

"That's not right," Ranma said.

"We know." Her mother replied, "I protested that that had to be wrong. One thing led to another and before I knew it someone had contacted child protective services." Beside her, Himawari shook her head.

"I've prodded some contacts of mine on the matter." Her grandmother said, "The response time was almost instantaneous. Someone was waiting for this in the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare."

Nodoka nodded, "Yes well... Perhaps your concerns a couple months ago had merit after all." She said to Ranma and Akane. "I tried to prove you were a man. I showed footage of your curse. I even went to the ministry and tried to get a copy of your birth certificate and your information as proof. But-" She scowled. "The copies at the ministry were changed as well. And I haven't been able to find my copies since the house incident."

Ranma winced, as did Akane. That had been the very unfortunate incident involving the jewelry box shaped pillbox. "What about Pops?" She asked.

Nodoka shook her head. "He claimed to have lost it before he left." She said.

"Even if he hadn't lost it, I highly doubt it would have any weight," Himawari said taking a sip of her tea. "With the amount of evidence that has been, I hesitate to say collected, but well." She shrugged. "I suspect it would have simply been used as evidence of attempted forgery of government documents."

"At this point, I have to agree with you mother," Nodoka said.

Ranma rocked back on her knees. So, somehow, someone had arranged for her records to be replaced at school and for her _official government records_ to be replaced to support that. Either someone important in the government was out to get her, or someone with a lot of money and power was throwing their weight around. And she _had_ just pissed off someone who met that description very well a couple months ago.

"Fuck the Kunos." She muttered. It had to be them. The Shinobi, the suits, the sheer about of blatant corruption.

"Ranma, language," Nodoka said though she was half-hearted in her reprimand. She just looked done. "They were going to take you into government care. So I broke down and contact my mother."

Himawari nodded and placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I know how hard that was." She said before turning to address Ranma. "I was able to leverage a bit of my own influence. Being the head of one of the four major Sensha-do houses in Japan means those in power tend to listen a bit more to me."

"Still wasn't enough," Nodoka said.

"Almost wasn't enough." Himawari corrected.

Ranma licked her suddenly dry lips nervously. "What happened?" She asked.

"I was able to prevent them from outright taking you into government care, however, there are… conditions." She said.

"What are the conditions?" Akane asked before Ranma could.

"They are-" Ranma's grandmother paused as Nodoka held up a hand.

"Let me." She said forcefully.

"If you insist." The older woman allowed, sitting back.

Nodoka took a deep break, settling herself. "The exact accusation was that we were forcing you to crossdress and act like a man against your will." She said, "They claimed the videos I provided were fake and provided testimony from both your classmates and your teachers."

Ranma's eyes narrowed and she scowled angrily. Someone had lied to screw her over. The teachers weren't a surprise. Hinako probably hadn't been involved, but then someone who was a child half the time probably wasn't considered a trustworthy source either. The rest though? These were people who'd put on animal costumes to attack the students, or pretend to be statues of Kuno to do the same all at the freaks command. Morally bankrupt was probably a defining trait of at least half the staff at Furinkan. No, they weren't a surprise. The students, on the other hand, were going to remember what she did to them when she found them.

"So today we made an agreement with that woman today. The one you saw outside." Nodoka continued, "In exchange for dropping the charges and staying proceedings to take you away we have to meet certain demands. First, I am no longer allowed to be your legal guardian, and neither is your father. Instead, my mother will fulfill that role until you reach adult age. Adult in their eyes that is."

"That's not so bad," Ranma said. It sounded a little too good so far.

"We also," Nodoka continued without responding. Her voice was catching a little and she swallowed nervously. "We also agreed to provide evidence of our good behaviour by showing proof that we are- we are-" She petered off.

"Nodoka, do you want me to-" Himawari started.

"No." Ranma's mother said, "I am his, her.. Her..." and that sounded very strange to Ranma's ears to hear her mother refer to her as a woman, "I am her mother. I do what I need to do." She took a deep rattling breath and let it out in a single explosive breath. "Right, I was… We are to show proof that we are allowing you to explore your femininity by ensuring you are signed up with a properly certified girl's high school. Including properly feminine activities."

Aaaand that was the sword chopping off her head. Ranma took a deep calming breath herself. She felt like breaking something, or someone. This, this made her angry is a way she hadn't felt since Herb, or maybe Saffron. No definitely Herb. There hadn't been as much anger with Saffron. Desperation sure, but no anger.

The young redhead got to her feet.

"Ranma?" Nodoka asked, a plaintive note in her voice as Ranma walked past her towards the patio door.

Ranma paused at the door. "I need to think." She said bluntly and walked out, sliding the door shut behind her with a final snap. She walked out past the roofline and with a single hop leaped up onto the roof.

She looked around, taking in the familiar skyline that surrounded the Tendo Dojo. As much as she appreciated the scenery she wasn't looking to appreciate the beauty or lack thereof depending on where she was looking. No, she was looking for more of those spies that were more than likely working for the Kunos. No sign of anyone. No rustle of trees, no birds, no oddly conspicuous objects big enough to hide a person that hadn't been there the day before. Or the week before either.

Satisfied that she wasn't likely to spot anyone who was actually after her she lay down on the roof, staring up at the sky that was slowly turning into soft pinks and oranges. She needed time to think, and the roof was as good as anywhere else to do it.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Several hours later Ranma was broken from the unproductive loop of her own thoughts by the clack of a ladder being set against the rooftop. She didn't bother moving as the sound of someone climbing reached her. Instead, she just kept watching the stars. It was a clear night and the view was, while not helping her make up her mind, certainly encouraged calm and reflection.

The tiles creaked as whoever it was stepped onto the roof. Ranma said, "Hello Akane."

A giggle caused her to lean back over the ridge of the roof. "Wrong sister I'm afraid Ranma," Kasumi said with a smile as she sat down on the other side of the ridgeline. She looked up at the sky. "When I was younger I used to get into trouble for coming up here."

"Really?" Ranma asked. It was hard to see the very quiet and usually well-behaved girl as someone who would be climbing the house.

She nodded. "Oh yes, but that was when mother was still with us. I was always doing things I shouldn't have." She said. Her smile had turned a bit sad.

"Why did you climb up here?" Ranma asked, trying to change the subject away from the Tendo's mother. "Normally you just shout."

"I needed to talk with you," Kasumi said. She lay down on the roof tiles, her head and neck resting on the ridgeline. "It really is a nice view." She said humming thoughtfully.

Ranma rolled over onto her side to face the older girl. "What about Kasumi?" She asked.

"Don't want any small talk to take your mind off things?" Kasumi asked, glancing at her from the corner of her eyes. Her lips twitched into a small grin.

Ranma just rolled her eyes. There it was, the mischievous streak that Kasumi normally kept hidden. "Really Kasumi?" She prodded, not-pouting at the older girl. She didn't pout after all.

Kasumi giggled. "Fine, fine." She said, her expression growing serious. She sighed. "It's about this whole thing with child services. I just shared this with your Auntie Nodoka today. I didn't want to bother her about when she was fighting her own battle."

Ranma frowned. "What happened?" She asked.

"They attempted to do what they did with your mother to us as well." Kasumi said, "I managed to deal with it without father knowing, but…" She fidgeted nervously and sighed. "I seem to have drawn a bit of attention for myself."

Ranma sat up. "From who?" She growled. Involving Kasumi was going too far.

"The same place as you I imagine." Kasumi sat up pulled her knees to her chest. Resting her head on her knees she continued. "I received a letter last week from MEXT informing me that I would be attending Oarai Girls College as a first-year come April first."

"Your over twenty years old, who would believe your fifteen?" Ranma asked. Kasumi shrugged. Her lips twitched and she giggled. Ranma blanched. "I- I mean, your young and um."

Kasumi started laughing as Ranma flushed red. She kept laughing for a few minutes before settling down, wiping tears from her eyes. Ranma, however, was nearly as red as her hair. Silently she was cursing the way her mouth tended to run ahead of her good sense. "Don't worry Ranma." Kasumi snickered, "I know what you mean. And no, I'm fairly sure I can prove I'm not fifteen, but… Well, should I?" Her expression turned thoughtful.

Ranma frowned. "Why wouldn't you want to?" She asked.

"Well," She drawled as she leaned back against the roof tiles once more. "To start with they deleted my records. The only proof I have that I graduated at all is a piece of paper in my room." Ranma frowned and went to speak only for Kasumi to hold two fingers up. "Second, even if I did have my records how far do you think a Furinkan education gets you amongst post-secondary schools?"

Ranma shrugged. "As far as anywhere else I guess?" She asked.

Kasumi shook her head. "Even if you get straight As places like Tokyo University won't even consider you." She said, "If I wanted to do anything after Akane and Nabiki graduated I would need to go back and take other classes just to qualify where I'd want to attend."

"Still…" Ranma said. "Three years is-"

"Not as long as you think." Kasumi smiled, "Besides, graduating elsewhere will open up my chances in the long run. I do have a plan to avoid it taking time out of my life though." She started fishing through the pockets of her apron.

"A plan, what sort of plan?" Ranma asked. "Its three more years of school. I'm going to be twenty-one by the times it's done."

"Only if you play by the normal rules," Kasumi said as she pulled something very familiar out of a pocket. A mushroom, long thin with a stubby cap it was very familiar to Ranma. "Recognize this," Kasumi said with a smile that reminded the redhead that yes, she was related to Nabiki.

"Kasumi," Ranma said as she eyed the mushroom nervously. "Is that an age mushroom?"

"Mhmm." Kasumi nodded, "Fifteen centimeters long harvested today."

"Where did you get it?" She and Ryoug had eaten the last bunch of them months ago.

"I grew it." The older girl said, slowly twirling it in her fingers. "I've been growing them for months. I have a few I can share if you want." The smile she sent Ranma only exacerbated the similarities between the sisters.

"If I did that I'd lose a lot of progress." Ranma pointed out, "I'm a lot better now than I was then and my body-"

"Isn't that different," Kasumi said, still twirling the mushroom between her fingers. "Two years ago you were only a little shorter and a little less muscular. Most of your change is in skill and energy manipulation, isn't it?"

Ranma nodded slowly. Really even four years ago she'd been nearing the limits of what a human being could accomplish without ki, and that was before her disastrous trip to China. "I can barely keep ahead of Ryouga as is." She muttered.

Kasumi sighed, and bopped her on the nose with the mushroom. Ranma wrinkled her nose at the smell. "Kasumi." She whined.

"Don't think of it like that." Kasumi scolded, "Think of it like this: They think they've taken our future. That they've taken our precious time from us. Really all they've done is give us more chances to do it right. We don't need to continue through life haunted by the spectre of Furinkan High. Isn't Anything Goes about taking your enemies strength and using it against them? This is their strength, make it yours."

"True…" Ranma sighed, "I just… Don't want to be a girl this much. Can you imagine what it's going to be like the moment I get hit with hot water? It's bad enough now, but at an all-girls school. Gah."

Kasumi just smiled and pocketed the mushroom. She started searching through the other few pockets. "Hand please." She said and Ranma held her hand out, wondering what she was pulling out now.

Whatever she had expected it wasn't a pink bar of soap with the words '_Jusenkyo Products Ltd._' was written in the center of the bar. Was this waterproof soap? She gave it a sniff. It didn't smell horrible. Actually, it smelled like strawberries. "Kasumi, what is this?" She asked.

"Waterproof Beauty Soap. A very recent invention from the people who made that waterproof soap Shampoo used last year." Kasumi said brightly. "Strawberry scented."

Ranma turned it over in her hands. "You've thought this through." She said. Waterproof soap did work as advertised, but the original had caused dry skin and had a foul smell to it. It was bad enough that the beauty conscious Shampoo had rejected it outright last year. On the plus side as a method for controlling the curse, all you had to do was stop using it ahead of when you wanted the curse to function normally.

"I've had time." Kasumi admitted, "You can have the rest of the package if you want. I got it for you."

Ranma pocketed the soap with a frown. It got rid of the issue of turning into a guy at an inopportune moment, but… "There's not really anything I can do about this, is there?" She asked Kasumi.

"Not really, no," Kasumi said quietly, placing a hand on atop Ranma's own, which were folded on her knees. "This isn't a battlefield that can be fought with fists and weapons. Words are the blades of choice for this, not feats of strength."

"Hmm.." Ranma frowned but nodded. "Letting them win sucks." She said, "But… Nothing says they have to win forever, does it?" The Kunos had won this round. Maybe if she'd been brought in earlier she could have done something, but now it was far too late. This was the sort of battlefield she always struggled in. Give her a fist fight, or a duel with weapons or magic or something and she'd find a way to win, but Nabiki had proven time and again just how dangerous words could be.

"Nothing says that." Kasumi agreed, "and between the two of us I don't like this either." She squeezed Ranma hand and the two shared a smile. "You help me, and I'll help you, 'kay?"

"So that's what you want." Ranma sighed before looking the other girl in the eye. "What do you need?" She asked.

"I already spoke with Auntie Nodoka and your grandmother a few minutes ago," Kasumi confessed with one of her trademarked angelic smiles, only right now it was making Ranma feel like she'd just made a deal with Nabiki.

"And?" Ranma asked.

"I give you the Mushroom, and your grandmother will get me a chance to get into the same school your Auntie and your Grandmother are planning on sending you to," Kasumi said, "Though you don't have to accept the mushroom if you don't want it."

Ranma blinked. "I'm going to Oarai, aren't I?" She asked.

Kasumi shook her head and stood up. "Auntie was talking about family tradition. Apparently, there's a specific school every girl in your family has gone to for decades. It's very fancy and prestigious." She said as she walked over to the ladder.

"Which one?" Ranma asked.

Kasumi smiled at her mischievously. "Ask your mother." She said before climbing down.

Ranma stared after her for a moment before chuckling. The other girl had completely played her that entire time. Well, played her and yet left her feeling better about everything. Better didn't mean happy, but she did feel better. This wasn't forever, and it wasn't like they'd just let the Kunos get away with this.

She stood up and brushed her pants off before walking over to the edge of the roof. She looked down and spotted Kasumi standing by the ladder waiting. She smiled and hopped down.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Oh, Kasumi." Ranma rolled her eyes as Akane hugged her sister, "How dare they get you involved in this."

"I'm fine Akane, really," Kasumi said, patting her sister on the head.

Akane shook her hand off and stepped back, rearranging her hair. "Kasumi." She frowned as her sister giggled.

Ranma sighed and took her usual seat at the table where dinner was being served. Nodoka, her grandmother, and Nabiki were already around the table.

"So," Nabiki said as Ranma sat down, "What's it like being a real girl Saotome."

"Nabiki," Nodoka said warningly before Ranma could respond with something rude. The middle-Tendo fell silent. It was clear that Ranma's mother was in no mood to deal with the young woman's normal shenanigans.

Dinner was mostly silent, other than the clattering of dishes and the clack of chopsticks. Eventually, though dinner came to an end.

"Ranma, are you alright?" Nodoka asked as the dishes were being cleared away.

Ranma sighed and leaned against the table on one elbow. "I guess?" She said wiggling a hand side to side. "I mean, I find out that the Kunos have been doing this whole thing and it's too late for me to do anything about it. We've already lost this round. I'm just pissed off I can't do something." What exactly could she do at this point, punch the social worker? That would just make things worse.

"Sometimes we have to accept we've been outmaneuvered." Her Grandmother said, "There will always be another chance if you're patient enough."

Nodoka nodded her agreement. "Yes, well…" She sighed, "What about Kasumi's suggestion? What do you think of it?"

Akane and Nabiki perked up. "What suggestion?" Akane asked.

"As you know Akane," Kasumi said, taking her younger sister's plate, "I got caught up in this unpleasantness as well."

"And it's not fair," Akane protested. She shot a glare at Ranma that left her with the distinct impression she was being blamed for dragging the older sister into this mess.

Nabiki snorted. "Fair or not, how can anyone believe you're fifteen?" She said before Ranma could snap something at Akane.

Kasumi shrugged. "Even if they don't they've already lost my records. Without the official records, my graduation certificate means nothing at all." She said, "I did have plans for after the two of you graduated you know."

"You should have started on those sooner," Nabiki said.

"Father loves us very much," Kasumi said, "But you know as well as I do how useless he can be Nabiki." The middle sister shrugged. "Anyway, I've decided not to try and fight this. Instead, I've decided that it is an opportunity. One I can take advantage of with this." Balancing the plates in her left hand she pulled out the mushroom again.

Ranma snickered as both Nabiki and Akane backed away as they recognized the mushroom of time. "Kasumi," Akane said warily, "Where did you get that?"

"I grew it," Kasumi said as she put it away and headed for the kitchen. "They're very simple to grow you know." She called as she left the room.

Nabiki looked to Ranma. "Going to turn back the clock Saotome?" She asked sardonically.

Ranma smiled. "I'd prefer to think of it as stealing back a few years." She said.

"So these mushrooms do as she claims?" Himawari asked, curious.

"Oh yeah, they do," Nabiki said, eyeing her elder sister warily as Kasumi reentered the room carrying a small plastic container. Kasumi simply smiled at her.

"Oh don't worry about me Nabiki, I'll be fine. It's just high school." Kasumi said breezily as she set the tupperware container on the table. Visible through the clear plastic was a pair of steamed buns.

"It's not you I'm worried about," Nabiki said flatly as she shifted away from the buns on the table.

And on that, "What school am I going to?" Ranma asked, "Kasumi said it's not going to be Oarai?"

Himawari nodded. "Our family has traditionally sent our daughters to St. Gloriana Girls College." She said.

Nabiki choked on her drink. "St. Gloriana's?" She coughed.

"My family has been involved in St. Gloriana Girls College since its inception." The older woman said proudly. "While I can't promise entrance, I can arrange for Ranma and Kasumi to take the entrance exams in a couple week. So long as they manage to pass those they can get into the school."

"And that relies on Ranma managing to pass the entrance exam to such a prestigious school," Nabiki said, smirking at Ranma.

The redhead glared at her. "I can pass an entrance exam just fine." She said though she had to admit the brunette had a point. Her grades were far from the best. This would require effort… even if it was for a lower grade at this point.

"I can help you study Ranma, though I probably need to study myself. The number of things I've forgotten over the last few years is greater than I'd like." Kasumi sighed, "Well, nothing to worry too much about. I'm sure we'll manage just fine." She cracked open the lid of the plastic container and pulled out a bun. "Mushroom bean bun." She offered, holding it out to Ranma.

The redhead eyed the bun warily. "That has mushrooms of time in it, doesn't it?" She asked as she accepted the bun.

"Did you think I was just going to eat them raw?" Kasumi asked, taking a bite out of the other one.

"KASUMI." Akane shouted, "What are you doing!?"

"Oh my." Kasumi blinked and put a hand on her chest. She looked mildly alarmed, which for anyone else would probably have been interpreted as a panic attack. Then, in the time it took to blink, she was a full foot shorter.

Ranma had to admit she looked cute as a fiteen-year-old, even if it did look like she had raided her mother's closet. She was, however, now _only_ as tall as Ranma was.

"Well." Ranma glanced at her grandmother who seemed somewhat stunned. Beside her Nodoka was just shaking her head.

"Perhaps you should have waited Kasumi. There was no rush." She chided the now youngest girl.

Kasumi shrugged, and eeped as her dress tried to slide completely off her. Gathering it up she blushed furiously. "Should have, maybe." She admitted, "Well Ranma?" She asked, sending Ranma the closest thing to a challenging look she had ever seen on the other girl's face.

Ranma looked down at the bun in her hands. "_Think of it like this: They think they've taken our future. That they've taken our precious time from us. Really all they've done is give us more chances to do it right. We don't need to continue through life haunted by the spectre of Furinkan High. Isn't Anything Goes about taking your enemies strength and using it against them? This is their strength, make it yours." _ Kasumi had said. At the moment it seemed like only one of them had the courage to at least try.

Ranma raised the bun up to her lips.

"Ranma, this-" Akane started and stopped as Ranma took a bite.

The bun was cold, and so was its contents, but it still tasted quite nice. Very sweet actually. Not too surprising since Kasumi had made it.

'_**Thump'**_ And there was the first sign it was working. That little clench of the heart that rattled the body. It was a bit like having the floor drop out from under you. Unpleasant to say the least.

The next thing she felt was more like an inaudible '_**she-bang'**_ than anything else. It didn't just shake her body, it seemed to rattle the world, and in the span of a single blink, the world grew larger.

"Ranma." Akane groaned. The bluenette was not much taller than Ranma and the look she was sending her was one of disappointment.

The redhead just stuck her tongue out at Akane before turning to Kasumi. "The bun is good." She said, taking another bite. No further ominous thumps came as she finished the bun.

Kasumi smiled brightly as she finished her own. "I know, I'm surprised how good they are." She said.

Nabiki just scooted down the table from her shrunk sister. "Really sis, really…" She sighed, "Daddy is going to freak when he finds out what you've done."

Kasumi sent an uncharacteristically flat look at her sister. "Then he should have been here." She said before gathering her dress around her. "I'm going to go look for something to wear. Excuse me." Everyone watched, silently, as the now youngest Tendo left the room.

"Well, that's that." Himawari said, "Now we're committed."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Author's Note: Welcome everyone to something I don't think has actually been done before. Girls und Panzer and Ranma ½. Given the fans predilection to put Ranma in anything and everything I'm surprised that I can't find at least someone who has done this before me. For those wondering this is basically going to be entirely Female Ranma. Male Ranma will show up here and there, but Girls und Panzer is a show about Moe Girls and Tanks, boys only exist in the background. So, don't expect Male Ranma to show very often.

*Kitsune Yawn* Chapter two is in progress and should bring us to St. Gloriana Girls College. Also #GoGoGloriana #DarjeelingBestCaptain


	2. Chapter 2: Mansions and Tanks

"Come on out Ranma." Ranma thought that Akane sounded far too eager.

"No."

"You need to show it off."

"Nope."

"Ranma." And now she was getting annoyed, wonderful.

Ranma sighed. "Fine." She said, unlatching the changing room door and stepping out into the boutique. Cooing met her ears and she flushed as the rest of the assembled group joined in on her suffering.

"It looks nice Ranma," Akane said, though whether or not she was serious Ranma couldn't tell. The other girl was smiling far too broadly for her comfort.

"The ruffles are cute." Kasumi agreed from the side where she was wearing a new beige sweater and black skirt.

"Maybe a bit too pink though," Nodoka said pursing her lips. Unlike the others, she was being entirely serious.

Ranma picked at the edge of the cherry blossom pink dress she had been forced into. It didn't look that bad on her, even she could admit that but… "Can I get something _other_ than a dress?" She asked icily.

"We're supposed to help you explore your femininity you know that Ranma," Akane said with a smirk. Ranma glowered at her.

"You can do that without bright pink dresses." She growled.

"Perhaps." Nodoka sighed, casting around the fashionable boutique. Ranma's Grandmother could be seen talking with one of the shopgirls somewhere deep in the racks. "You should still have at least a couple. It'll make it easier for us to show we're keeping our end of the bargain."

Ranma frowned, but her mother did have a point. Still… "No ruffles." She insisted.

In the background, Kasumi let out a disappointed "aaaah".

-0-0-0-0-0-

With Grace and Elegance

A Girls Und Panzer/Ranma ½ Crossover

Chapter Two: Mansions and Tanks

By: Grounders10

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Rolls-Royce Phantom V bounced as it drove through a pothole in the road. Ranma paid the sudden rocking little mind as she stared out the window at the bland concrete walls and uniform houses of Yokohama whizzing by. One hand was toying with the braid of her hair while the other tugged at the too tight legs of her black slacks. The tailor said they fit perfectly, and so did her mother, but they just felt too tight after years of loose silk pants.

"I still think you looked good in ruffles." The other occupant of the Phantom V's backseat said. Ranma's eyes slid from what little scenery there was to the grinning brunette watching her over the edge of her textbook.

Ranma scowled at the other girl and received a giggle in return. There was a time when she had basically written off Kasumi as somewhere between an angel and a saint, now after a week of dealing with the fifteen-year-old version she knew that that had just been a very good act. No Nabiki was still the Devil of the three, but she definitely had competition at times.

"She did, didn't she?" Ranma groaned as her grandmother chimed in from the driver's seat.

"Grandma." She complained. The older woman just chuckled.

"You need to relaaaaax Ranma." Kasumi said with a shake of her head, "Don't be so tense."

Ranma sighed and leaned back against the doorframe. She folded her arms and looked out the window. Relaxing wasn't really something she felt like doing at that moment.

Kasumi frowned and bookmarked her page before shutting the textbook and stuffing it into the bag at her feet. "Ranma." She reached over and poked Ranma in the side. "No pouting." She said as Ranma squirmed.

"Stop, Kasumi~" Ranma complained, lightly swatting away the hand that was poking her.

"Then stop sulking." The brunette retorted, "You've done nothing but sulk and study for the last week."

Ranma grumbled but didn't deny it. She had been, rather understandably in her opinion, rather put out about this entire mess. Stupid bureaucracy, stupid Kuno, stupid- She squawked as Kasumi poked her again.

"No sulking either." Kasumi scolded.

Ranma sighed. "Fiiiine." She said.

"We're here," Himawari said.

The two girls looked up as the Rolls-Royce pulled off the main road onto a short driveway that led to a wrought iron gate set into the hedgerow. A single occupant guardhouse was set next to it and a fairly large, though not overweight, man stepped out and walked over to the driver's window as they stopped. Himawari rolled the window down.

"Welcome home Lady Hayashida." The guard said with a bow when he reached the car.

"It's good to be home Yuuno." She replied, "Inform Michiru I've arrived will you?"

The guard dipped his head. "As you wish Lady Hayashida." The gate rattled and began to slide open.

"A good day then Yuuno," Himawari said the car started to roll forward.

"And a good day to you as well Lady Hayashida." The man called as they rolled through the gate onto a driveway that was flanked on both sides by hedgerows tall enough they nearly blocked the sun. Ahead the driveway turned where it reached a brick wall.

Ranma stared at the brick wall, there was a long slender object sticking out of an opening in the wall. As they got closer Kasumi let out a small 'ooh' of understanding.

"That's a bunker." She said.

It was, in fact, a concrete bunker with a small opening for whatever weapon that was to poke through painted as though it were an ordinary, if weathered, red brick wall.

"Good eye Kasumi." Ranma's grandmother praised as they rolled around the corner.

"What is that sticking out?" Ranma asked.

"A decommissioned seventeen pounder gun off an old Sherman Firefly," Himawari said as the driveway left behind the hedgerow. Gardens sprawled out on either side of the driveway all the way up the hill to a beautiful English manor house. Just from what Ranma could see the gardens alone were the size of the Kuno mansion.

Beside the main building was a single story brick structure that appeared to have been, at some point in the past, a stable. A vehicle was that was clearly a tank could be seen sticking out of one of several gates. It had a long squat body with a small turret set forward.

Ranma furrowed her brow at the vehicle. "Grandma, why do you have a tank?" She asked. Beside her, Kasumi sighed. She looked to the brunette. "What?"

"Your grandmother is the Grandmaster of the Hayashida School of Sensha-do Ranma. Why else would she have a tank?" Kasumi said, rolling her eyes.

"Your mother did mention it when she introduced us." Ranma's grandmother pointed out from the front.

Ranma's mother had mentioned a school, but with everything that had been going on Ranma had flat out forgotten to ask _what_ Sensha-do was. Sensha was tank of course, but... The way of the tank? "Grandma, " Ranma asked, "What is sensha-do?"

The car slowed noticeably, though it didn't stop, as the older woman looked back at her. "You don't know?" She asked, "No don't answer." She said waving Ranma off as she turned back to driving, "you wouldn't ask if you did. It is, like any art, a fairly complex topic. However, Sensha-do can be summed up as the art of getting the most out of your tank. Much like how Naginatajutsu or Kyudo are about getting the most out of the Naginata or Bow."

"There's a lot more than just getting the most out of a weapon to either of those," Ranma said. There were many schools of thought to wielding a Naginata, and Kyudo was very much a spiritual art with a great deal being made about the state of one's mind and body.

Her grandmother nodded. "Indeed there is. Sensha-do shares that complexity of nature. There are many schools of thought in Sensha-do, however, the Hayashida school is one of the four great schools along with others like the Nishizumi or Shimada schools." She said.

The Rolls-Royce trundled to a stop in front of the main doors of the mansion. "And here we are," Himawari said, turning off the car. A woman in a conservative black dress was taking the steps down two at a time as Ranma stepped out of the car.

"Lady Hayashida," The middle-aged woman said with a scolding tone, "You should have called. I would have had everyone here to greet you."

Ranma's grandmother sighed and shook her head. "And that is why I didn't. This was a visit to my daughter, not a visit from the Emperor." She replied.

The other woman scoffed. "If not for you, then at least to welcome the young miss." She said, coming to stop before Ranma. After spending a moment to straighten her skirts she bowed. "Welcome young miss." She said.

Ranma could feel her eyebrow twitch at being called 'young miss'. She didn't _hate_ being a girl quite as much these days, but she was _not_ a young miss! As she was about to say something annoyed, and probably fairly rude, she was interrupted before she could insert foot into mouth by the sudden presence of Kasumi setting a hand on her shoulder.

She glanced at the other girl and Kasumi mouthed, 'be polite' to her.

Ranma swallowed her irritation. This was something she would have to get used to. If she bit the head off everyone who greeted her she'd develop a reputation. A bad one.

"Hello," Ranma said, bowing politely with a forced smile.

Then older woman smiled. "Good, you can maintain some shadow of politeness. Even if you do need a hand to do so." She said as she rose from her bow. "Perhaps Lady Hayashida's task for me isn't entirely impossible." Ranma blinked. Had this been a test?

Ranma's grandmother chuckled as she came around the car and passed a set of keys to a young man who had followed the woman out of the mansion. "Ranma, Kasumi, meet the head of my servants, Michiru Oto. She will be in charge of ensuring you understand the social standards to which all St. Gloriana students are held." She said.

Ranma groaned. "Not this again." She muttered. Manners and propriety, oh god what had she gotten into this time?

"It's not that bad Ranma," Kasumi said, sharing a smile that, to Ranma, appeared to be ever so slightly strained.

"You say that." The redhead returned with narrowed eyes. Kasumi looked away.

"Ahem." Both of them returned their attention to Michiru. The head servant was watching them with one eyebrow raised minisculely. "If the two of you would follow me I will show you around the mansion before taking you to your rooms. Your things will be brought up by the servants." As she said this several large men, one of whom looked European with red-orange hair and beard, came jogging down the staircase behind her and went immediately for the trunk of the Rolls-Royce.

Michiru glanced to Himawari. "Lady Hayashida we received a call earlier today from Mrs. Nomura." She said.

"Oh really." The few age lines on her face deepened as she frowned. "What does the brat want now?" She asked.

Michiru shrugged unconcernedly. "She wished to ask if you might consider bringing your offer more in line with the official procurement policy. She seemed to think you were insulting her. I would have set her straight, however, I was informed of your approach at that time. With luck, she may be still waiting on hold."

Himawari sighed. "Damned shortsighted busybody. Very well." She turned to Ranma. "I would have preferred to see you to your rooms as well, however, it appears I must attend the stupid and shortsighted once again." She paused, "However if you do meet Mrs. Nomura at St. Gloriana I would appreciate it if you withheld my opinion of her. It would simply make things more complicated."

Ranma nodded. She wondered who, exactly, Mrs. Nomura was. "I can do that." She said. Kasumi voiced agreement beside her.

"Wonderful. Don't create too much trouble for Michiru then." Himawari said with a smile before heading for the mansion, taking the stairs two at a time despite her age.

"Well then, please follow me," Michiru said after the older woman disappeared into the building. She started for the door and both Ranma and Kasumi hurriedly followed.

The entrance hall was simply a large tiled entryway with a single grand stairwell leading to the second floor and hallways branching off into the different wings of the mansion. Michiru paused at the base of the staircase and turned to them.

"This is the grand entrance hall." Michiru said, "From here you can access most of the mansion from here. To my left," She gestured to the side, "Is the North Wing. To my right, the South Wing. Behind the main staircase is a set of stairs leading down to the servants quarters, kitchen, and storerooms. You are not allowed down there unless you have been given permission or there is an emergency." The two of them nodded when she paused. "Good. The door to my left leads to the first floor of the North Wing wherein can be found the family library, the trophy room, several sitting rooms, and the smaller dining room. Dinner will be there at six o'clock tonight. Do not show up before six."

This was definitely starting to remind Ranma of her time at the Chardin's. Not even five minutes and already the rules were piling up. Her annoyance must have shown because Michiru sighed.

"The food will not be ready for you before and I will not have you getting in the way of those bringing in the food." The head servant said before continuing. "The door on my right leads to the first floor of the South Wing. Inside is the large sitting room, the large dining room, the great room, and the games and recreation room. The exact contents of it I'm sure the two of you will enjoy exploring for yourselves later."

"Can you tell us something about it?" Kasumi asked politely.

Michiru smiled. "There is a TV, and a Billiards table set up amongst other recreational items. We have amassed quite a collection over the years." She said, "Now, please follow me." She walked up the staircase to the first landing, the two girls close on her heels. She turned onto the southern flight of stairs. "Neither the South or North Wings have access from the first floor outside of this staircase. Also, the third floor is only accessible via staircases inside the second floor of each wing."

Michiru led them into the South Wing. "The second and third floors are intended for guests of the family. While I will admit it sees little use these days in decades past we used to have guests from around the world staying here. I haven't seen this wing even half-full since before I ascended to my current position over a decade ago. Still, that silence has some benefits, as you will see Ms. Tendo."

As they went Ranma noticed that while the Mansion's interior was styled in some European fashion she couldn't name it was not the same gaudy white with silver and gold leaf everywhere that the Chardin family had used everywhere. The floors were hardwoods, the walls papered with a variety of red and earth tones, and the furniture possessing of a simple dark elegance.

"How so?" Kasumi asked.

"As you are an important guest I have taken the liberty of having one of our nicest rooms prepared for you," Michiru said. The corridor came to a T intersection and she turned right down the new hallway. "Just up here." She said, leading them to the door at the end of the hall. A simple oak door with a brass handle that stood across from flight of stairs that led up to the next floor.

The door was ajar when they reached it and when they stepped inside they found a young woman in a black dress that was similar to Michiru's. She was humming softly as she dusted the large window beside the four-poster double bed.

"Ahem." Michiru coughed.

The maid jumped and spun, nearly losing her grip on the cloth she was using. "Oh, um, hello Mrs. Oto." She said bowing hurriedly.

"I believe I asked you to be finished an hour ago." The head servant said blandly.

The young woman blushed. "Yes, um I lost track of time." She said staying bowed. "I'm sorry Mrs. Oto."

"Stand up straight girl. Is it done?" Michiru asked.

The girl stood straight, her back a bit too stiff. "Yes, Mrs. Oto." She said.

"Then leave us." The girl scrambled for the door, hurriedly murmuring apologies as she left. Head servant sighed. "My apologies, Young Miss, Miss Tendo. This should have been finished a while ago."

"Oh, its no problem," Kasumi said shaking her head.

"Standards must be kept Ms. Tendo, and I'm afraid that Miss Yanagi is a new hire and is still learning them… More slowly than I would prefer." The older woman sighed.

Ranma "hmmed" quietly. It seemed a bit strict to her, but then again her grandmother seemed the type to expect a certain type of behaviour from those around her. And they had already said she was going to be getting 'etiquette' training later. Even if they hadn't used those words.

Kasumi frowned. "If you say so." She said before looking around at the room. "This is a very nice room." She said.

"One of the original guest rooms, back when the manor was built in the late fifties." Michiru said, "Unlike some other rooms I would say it has aged well."

Ranma had to agree. The room was just a bit bigger than either of the Tendo's guest rooms and had a doorway leading somewhere opposite the window. The walls were papered a dark green with a repeating pattern of gold vines and leaves that wove a beautiful pattern up to the white ceiling. The floor was a dark lacquered wood with dark red rugs placed around the room. A brass chandelier hung from the ceiling.

At the far end of the room was the four-poster bed with a pair of end tables, both of which had brass lamps. A vanity sat against the wall beside the window and by the door, kittie corner from the window, was a coffee table, several overstuff armchairs patterned after the wallpaper, and an end table with another lamp identical to those by the bed. A wooden chair with a green cushion was by the window.

"Through the archway straight ahead is the bathroom," Michiru said. Kasumi walked over and peered around the corner.

"There's a couple other rooms here." She said.

"The one on the left is the walk-in closet." Michiru said, "The one on the right leads into a small study with a desk. Perfect for all the studying you will be doing for the rest of the week."

"Hmm." Kasumi nodded. "It's very nice. Much larger than I'm used to though."

Michiru smiled. "It is a proper guest room, intended for friends of the family. Do enjoy your time here." She said. A rattling behind them in the hall drew their attention as a pair of men carrying Kasumi's luggage entered the room. "Ah, good. Into the closet with those if you would." She said.

"Yes, Mrs. Oto." The first said leading the way into the closet. He murmured apologies as he squeezed passed Kasumi. Then, as quick as they had appeared, they were gone.

"I'll have the maids put your things away while you're busy today," Michiru said.

"That's very kind," Kasumi said bowing to the head servant.

"You are in our care for the foreseeable future. It is only proper that we extend the proper courtesy." The older woman said, returning the bow before straightening and turning to Ranma. "Now, while Ms. Tendo gets settled in I will show you to your room young miss." She paused, "unless you wish for Ms. Tendo to see your room?"

"I wasn't planning on hiding it," Ranma said.

Michiru nodded. "As the current heir to the family your safety is considered paramount. We are not allowed to show anyone not of the family to your rooms unless you give permission." She said. Behind her, Kasumi gasped.

"I'm the heir? Since when?" Ranma asked. This was news to her.

"You didn't know?" The head servant sounded surprised. "I see, well you see the Hayashida family follows a Matrilineal inheritance model due to the Family's school being for women. While Miss Nodoka and Lady Hayashida had a falling out Lady Hayashida never disinherited her. Despite pressure from others in the family. As her only child you are the heiress to the family, and always have been."

"Oh." That was… Huh. That was the sort of thing she should have been told before.

Michiru shook her head and sighed. "I'll add it to the list of things to educate you on once you have completed your entrance exams." She said, "Now if you still wish her to be shown, she may come along." Ranma just nodded. "Very well. This way please." Michiru walked out into the hallway. Ranma and Kasumi followed her as she led them back towards the entrance hall.

Kasumi leaned over to Ranma as they walked. "Are you alright?" She asked.

"Hm, oh. I'm fine." Ranma said shaking her head to clear the lingering surprise. "Just didn't expect to be, well, the heir."

Kasumi nodded before, thankfully, changing the subject. "That room is massive," Kasumi said.

"I'm almost worried about how big mine is going to be. I didn't realize mum's family was this rich." Ranma replied, "I haven't seen a place this fancy since the Chardin's."

Kasumi frowned. "Yes well, hopefully, this goes better than that did." She said. Ranma could only nod her agreement.

"Trust me. It's already going a lot better." The redhead replied. For one thing, there had been a decided lack of iron corsets, and while Michiru's choice was dress was reminiscent of the governess she had yet to demonstrate anything and disturbing as that woman… or really anything disturbing at all, which was almost strange in and of itself.

Passing through the entrance hall they walked along the hall above and behind the staircase before passing through the far side into what Michiru called, "The family apartments." As they walked down the hall they passed a few rooms with open doors, one of which was clearly an office in which Ranma's Grandmother was briefly visible on the phone.

"... same commitment has cost St. Gloriana victory many times. The Mark XI and my other two donations will help ." She was saying as they went by. The door of the office clicked shut and cut off the rest of the conversation before they were another five feet down the hall.

Michiru led them down a small side corridor which terminated with a double glass door that led out onto a small balcony. On the right was a single large double wooden door. On the left was a staircase leading up. The head servant ducked behind the stairs and they followed. Tucked away beneath the staircase was a door painted to look like the wall. Michiru reached towards the door then stepped back as it swung open and two more maids exited the room. They both had to duck under the low arch of the door.

"Bags have been stored in the closet for the moment Ma'am." The second one, her hair nearly as red as Ranma's, said as she stepped out. She had a thick accent that made understanding her difficult.

"Excellent job, as usual," Michiru said, smiling at the maid.

"Not a problem Ma'am." She said, before bowing to Ranma. "Enjoy the stay young miss."

"I will," Ranma said. Her eyebrow twitched at her form of address. The maid smiled, half-bowed again, and headed off to whatever it was she needed to be doing.

"Miss Kure has been with us for a while. She will be in charge on ensuring your room is cleaned everyday," Michiru said, still smiling. "Now, allow me to show you your rooms, young miss." Really was everyone going to call her that at every opportunity? Well, at least they weren't calling her Ojousama… then again she wasn't really sure which was worse. One made her sound like a small child. The other made her sound like a princess.

"First, how to get in." Michiru said as she closed the door.

"How to get in?" Ranma repeated, "It's a door."

Michiru stood aside and waved Ranma forward. The first thing Ranma noticed was that there wasn't a doorknob. The wall underneath the stairwell was wood paneling and the door blended right in except for the slightest impression that only stood out because Ranma had seen it open seconds before.

"Why is it a secret door?" She asked.

"You are the heir of the family, and this is the apartment for the heir." Michiru pointed out, "This door is supposed to be the last line of protection for you."

Ranma just gave her a flat look. "I'm not exactly in need of physical protection." She said.

"So I have heard, however, most of our heirs have not been as physically capable as you." The head servant reached into a pocket and withdrew a pair of plastic cards. She held one out to Ranma. "You will need this." She said.

Taking it Ranma turned it over. One side was fairly normal for a plastic card. Barcode, magnetic strip and odd block pattern… whatever that was for. The other side, however, was a picture of the manor house as seen from the end of the driveway.

"Now," Michiru said leaning over to the door. "Watch." She tapped a seam half way up the door before drawing the hand up three. "Seam, three panels up. Press gently up and slide right." She pushed the panel up and slid it right. It disappeared into the wall revealing an open space with a large brass ring. She grabbed the ring and pulled it out before turning right. "Pull towards you, turn until it clicks." As it turned the base of it moved to reveal a card reader. "Swipe your card."

She looked to Ranma who, after a moment, swiped her card. The reader beeped and the keypad lit up. Michiru typed in a code. The screen flashed and there was a loud click before the door unlocked and swung open gently. "And there we go." She pulled the door shut. "Now let's go through it again."

They went through the process twice more before Michiru reset the password on the pad and had Ranma enter a new one of her own. She used Akane's birthday. "If that was the birthday of someone you know you should know not to use that in the future." Michiru said. When Ranma looked at her quizzically she explained, "Birthdays are among the most used passwords. Anyone who knows there's a numerical password here will try those first."

Finally, they ran through it once more and when it opened Michiru led the way into the room and the two girls followed. Kasumi had to duck to avoid smacking her head against the top of the doorway.

The room they entered was not, as she had expected, the bedroom. It was a small room with a single door directly across from them and a sliding door to their left. Also to the left was a small coffee table surrounded by a handful of comfy looking armchairs.

"A tea room, for entertaining guests." Michiru said as she walked across to the doors. "The sliding door leads to a small washroom for guests only." Then she threw open the door and stood aside with a small bow. "Young miss, your bedroom." She said.

"Oh, wow." Kasumi breathed and Ranma had to echo her. The room was… big. If they had though Kasumi's room was large this room made it look modest. Long and rectangular the room was about double the size of Kasumi's. There were three windows spaced evenly down the right wall with heavy curtains of soft blue wool hung around the window. At the far end was the bed much larger than Kasumi's. A four poster bed with a canopy and soft blue sheets decorated in pink cherry blossoms.

As Ranma stepped in she looked around, taking in the room. The wall were paneled with dark wood along the bottom and a soft blue wallpaper a few shades darker than the sheets with more pink cherry blossoms. In the center of the room were a pair of smalls sofas around a coffee table. To the right of the door was a small sitting area with several large bookshelves and to the left was a double door. A large picture hung beside the double door.

It was a painting of what appeared to be the larger sibling of the tank out front in the desert. In the background of the painting more tanks like it could be seen. Some were firing at an unseen foe, others were burning, and others still had vast plumes of dust flying out behind them as they sped across the sand.

There was the usual selection of a vanity, dressers, a wardrobe and several more pictures. Some of the pictures were of men and women in military dress while others were of tanks and other armoured vehicles in deserts, forests, and jungles.

In the far left corner was a tightly spiraled staircase that led to the next floor and next to it was a archway that led into another room.

"To the left here is your bathroom." Michiru opened up the double door. The dark wood flooring gave way to marble tile and decorative glass murals.

Ranma took a quick look about, but other than the very large bathing area, with both a shower and a bathtub set into the floor large enough for a large family, it was just a bathroom. A fancy one with too much brass, gold, shiny stones and murals for her taste; but just a bathroom nonetheless.

A single door was across the bathroom from the the double doors. "Your closet, I'll have your things hung later." Michiru said. Ranma nodded absently. This was… this was a lot more than she had expected when she had been told she would be living with her grandmother.

"Ranma." Kasumi grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the bedroom.

"Kasumi, what you doing?" Ranma protested as the other girl dragged her out of the bathroom and across the room.

"You're sulking. Stop it." The brunette said. Behind her Ranma heard what sounded like the head servant laughing.

"Be careful around the furniture." The older woman called as she followed them into the main room.

Kasumi dragged Ranma over to the bed and jumped onto the end of the bed, pulling Ranma with her. It was with a startled squeak from the brunette that the two of them sort of… disappeared into the mattress.

"What is this?" Ranma called as she tried to pull herself upright. The mattress was quite possibly the softest thing she had ever laid on, but sitting up was like trying to escape quicksand, and she had done that before.

"Oh dear. Perhaps a bit too soft?" Michiru murmured as she walked over.

Ranma pulled herself into a sitting position and glared at the barely visible in her own hole Kasumi who was lying there with a grin. "Really Kasumi?" She asked. All she received was a giggle and Kasumi waved happily, but declined to move.

"You were being too sulky. You've got a bigger room than me, and we still haven't seen everything." Kasumi said with a smile.

Ranma groaned. What was going on with Kasumi? She'd been like this on and off all week. One moment somewhat serious and polite like usual, the next giggling like a schoolgirl and trying to get her into trouble.

"There is quite a bit more." Michiru said.

"There is?" Ranma said with disbelief before looking towards the doorway near the bed. "Is that a kitchen?" She asked spotting yet another room on the far side of what appeared to be a mostly empty room.

"For education only." Michiru said sternly. "Regardless of your own skill you aren't to use it without supervision from the head chef or his assistant. And the other room is the music room. Up the stairs is the sun room. And tucked behind the stairs is a study."

Ranma blinked and leaned back, peering behind the stairs. Sure enough there was another door tucked behind them.

"Inside you will find books, a desk and chair, and a piano for practice should you wish to learn." Michiru said.

"What is a sunroom?" Kasumi asked.

"A room for relaxation and artistic practice with excellent natural light. Art supplies are available up there if you wish." Michiru said, "Though during summer it can get fairly warm."

Ranma hmmed. Well that was one room she probably wouldn't be using. Her artistic ability was firmly limited to stick figures and oddly shaped blobs.

"Now, I'll leave the two of you to your own devices." Michiru said with a bow. "You have today free so please enjoy yourselves. Explore the grounds, read a book, practice whatever art you see fit. And remember once you leave please change your password and inform myself and your grandmother. While you are welcome to bring Kasumi into your rooms at any time, she is not family and should not know your access code."

Seemed a bit harsh, but she wasn't the one setting the rules here. "Alright." Ranma nodded.

"Good. Dinner is at six. Enjoy your day Young Miss." Michiru bowed then left.

Ranma sighed then flopped back onto the bed. It was fluffy, but a bit too soft for her tastes.

"It's nice." She admitted as she sank a bit more into the bed.

"Yeah it is," Kasumi said from her own little crater beside Ranma. "So you don't know what Sensha-do is?" She asked after a minute of silence.

Ranma shook her head. "No. I've heard the term in passing a few times, but I never learned what it was." She frowned thinking. "I might have asked pops once, but I think he just mocked it without telling me what it was."

"That does sound like him." Kasumi said frowning, "I wonder what it's like to do it."

"To do what?" Ranma asked, though she had a feeling she knew the answer.

"Sensha-do. It's not like other arts." Kasumi said. "I've heard it's about working with a team and outsmarting your opponent. Something that anyone could pick up without needing to spend decades practicing to master."

"Tanks have limits though. They're machines, they break too easily." Ranma said. She had had enough experience with machinery to know that it tended towards being unreliable at the best of times.

"So?" Kasumi shrugged, "Most of us aren't you Ranma. We can't shrug off boulders or play with trees like matchsticks."

Ranma blushed. That was… very true. Sometimes it was hard to remember that most of the world was far less durable than she was. "I guess." She conceded.

Kasumi shook her head and stood up. "Well we've wasted enough time here, let's go exploring." She said, grabbing Ranma by the arm and pulling.

Ranma rolled her eyes, but let the other girl pull her up. She had to admit that she was curious about the mansion as well.

"Come on, we'll start downstairs," Kasumi said as she led her out the door and through the tea room.

"Can you stop dragging me?"

"No."

-0-0-0-0-0-

The family only section of the north wing was, except for a sitting room with a nice TV, entirely bedrooms. Most of which had at least a keypad and card reader for a lock. Ranma's card triggered all of the ones they tested even if they didn't have the codes to get in.

When they reached the entrance hall Kasumi led the way down to the first floor, taking the stairs two at a time. It was a strange experience for Ranma. Even knowing that there was more to Kasumi than the vapid if still caring facade she had adopted as things in Nerima had gotten crazier it was another thing to see her practically sprinting down the stairs.

"Slow down," Ranma said as she walked down the stairs at a more sedate pace. "You're not Akane. If you fall it's going to hurt."

To her surprise, the other girl just stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at her. "I'll be fine." She said, spinning in place as she took in the entrance hall. "I'm hardly a fragile doll."

Ranma paused a couple steps from the bottom as, for perhaps the first time, she was distinctly reminded that Kasumi and Akane were actually related. Normally it was hard to imagine the brunette and her blue-haired firecracker of a fiancee actually being sisters they were so different. That, however...

"What's gotten into you?" Ranma asked as she stepped off the stairs.

"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked as she looked at the four doorways that led out of the room. One led to a sitting room just off the main entrance, while two more led into hallways that were probably just like those upstairs. The last was the main entrance. The brunette was spinning in place, mouthing something to herself as she did.

"This," Ranma waved around in general, "You're acting more excitable than Akane." Technically not that hard to do. Akane was on most days fairly calm until you said just the wrong thing. Still, it was out of character.

Kasumi stopped, her finger pointed out the main entrance. "This way." She said setting off a good clip.

"Kasumi," Ranma called after her before sighing and running after her. The brunette had taken the front steps two at a time like the inside staircase and was more than a dozen feet down the path towards the stable building when Ranma finally caught up to her and grabbed her shoulder. "Kasumi." She spun the taller girl around and in the process nearly ran into her.

Kasumi stumbled but recovered before directing a frown at Ranma. "Really?" She said, annoyed. "I can't just enjoy my free time a bit?" Her hands were on her hips and her lips had formed a severe thin line.

"It's not- That's not what I'm saying." Ranma said, internally she was groaning. She'd gone and stepped on some kind of landmine. Again. Her and her stupid mouth, running before thinking. "You're just acting- You're not this-" Ranma just waved her hands around searching for some kind of description that wasn't going to make the entire thing worse. As it turned out, she didn't have to.

Kasumi glared at her for a moment before her look softened and she sighed. "I guess maybe I'm being a bit out there, hmm?" She said before taking Ranma by the shoulder and slipping her arm around Ranma's. "Let's talk and walk then. I'll explain."

Ranma let herself be dragged along, mildly alarmed by the sudden emotional about-face from the other girl. "What's wrong?" She asked, still assuming the worst.

"Nothing. For once." Kasumi sighed, "That's the thing Ranma. There's nothing _to_ worry about. At least nothing _I_ need to worry about because no one else is. Do you have any idea how long its been since that was true?"

"There's still studying." Ranma pointed out.

Kasumi scoffed. "I got straight A's at Furinkan while playing mother to my own sisters and managing the household. An entrance exam is nothing to worry about." She said. She fell silent for a moment as they walked over to the other building. "Daddy wasn't always there after mother died." She said finally, "Until Genma's letter arrived he almost seemed to have joined her. After though… well you know how crazy things got."

Ranma nodded, blushing slightly. "I- Things did get a bit, ehhh." She wiggled a hand in the air.

Kasumi giggled. "Eh indeed. Do you have any idea how hard it was to keep our home clean, repaired, and still able to pay our utility bills?" She asked.

Ranma gave her a flat look. "You and Nabiki made it rather clear early on." She reminded.

Kasumi smiled. "Only the water bills. Heating all that water for baths all the time wasn't cheap." She said absently.

They reached the gate to the stable. The outbuilding was separated from the main house by more than just distance. A low wrought iron fence ran about it, delineating an area about three times the size of a high school soccer pitch. Sticking half out one of the large wooden gates was the squat tank. A couple of women dressed in tank tops and overalls were working on it.

Kasumi slipped her arm free. "Ranma." She said, setting closer to the fence, watching the women work on the tank. "I'm not running around acting like a fool because there's something wrong with me. I'm just… having fun. Because for the first time in a decade there's no one who is relying on me."

She turned back to Ranma, a radiant smile on her face. "So, we're a pair of schoolgirls with nothing to do. Let's have some fun." She said before running into the stableyard. The two women looked up from where they were working on a compartment in the back of the tank. Kasumi immediately started asking them questions, but Ranma wasn't listening anymore.

Ranma was thinking about what Kasumi had said. It had never struck her just how much Kasumi had actually been doing, and it kinda made her feel bad. How many times had she done something to make her work harder? Or just taken what she did as something that just happened?

She shook her head as Kasumi called her name and waved her over. Whatever, it was the past and Kasumi at least seemed to be trying to move forward, despite the weirdness that was following them even now. She started over.

-0-0-0-0-0-

"Ranma, look at this." Kasumi waved at the tank as Ranma reached her, "It's a- oh, what did you call it?" She asked the younger of the two women working on it.

The blond European woman smiled. "An Infantry Tank MK. III, Valentine Mark XI." She said, patting the armoured hull of the vehicle. "Fairly impressive little tank. Few issues mind you. The gun's the big one."

Ranma looked at the gun sticking out of the turret. It looked fairly impressive, but then what did she know? "Why?" She asked.

The mechanic gave her a bemused look. "You're Lady Hayashida's granddaughter, aren't you?" She asked.

"Yes?" Ranma raised an eyebrow.

Beside her Kasumi sighed. "And no, she knows nothing about tanks." Kasumi said, "It wasn't exactly a common topic in Nerima."

The woman nodded. "Well, guess I'll explain then." She wiped her hands off on a rag before climbing up on the turret. She patted the gun barrel with on hand. "This beauty is a QF 75mm. The number refers to the diameter of the bore in this case. Solid gun, but she's meant for shooting people, not tanks. Which makes her less useful in Sensha-do. You're not supposed to shoot the crew after all. Just the other tanks."

"Which have people in them." Ranma pointed out.

The woman chuckled and brushed a hair behind her head. "Between the protective lining we're required to install and the way they've designed the regulation shells the only way you're getting a lethal penetration is if someone fucked up royally."

"Marie, language." The other woman scolded from where she was in the back compartment. There was a loud bang and a muffled curse as smoke floated out of the compartment.

"Worry about your own." Marie blithely replied before continuing on. "Now we're replacing this with a proper tank hunting weapon. The long barrelled QF 6lber Mark V. Much better weapon for Sensha-do. Between that and the two-ten horsepower GMC engine in the back when we're done our work this baby is going to be one dangerous little tank hunter. St. Gloriana is going to love her."

The other woman pulled her head out of the engine compartment. "Assuming they accept." She said, wiping her blackened face with her own rag.

"Why wouldn't they?" Kasumi asked.

"Stuck-up morons on the Sensha-do procurement board." Marie said, hopping down. "Bunch of old fools. They're the sort to claim they don't need anything more than those old Matilda II's and that churchill. You should have heard Lady Hayashida cursing them out when she first tried to get them to purchase those A15 Cruiser Tanks."

"Not that she'd like that getting around." The older woman said as she stepped down herself. "I'm Rei Miyake. Senior mechanic for the Lady Hayashida. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Ranma." She bowed politely.

Ranma returned it. "Nice to meet you." She said.

A loud crash echoed out of the open door. Followed by swearing and shouts to "watch out you idiot!"

Marie groaned. "Oh god, now what?" She complained.

"Let's go find out," Rei said, giving the open door a sour look. "I swear, it's one step forward and two back every day we work on those damned things."

"What's going on in there?" Kasumi asked.

Marie grinned. "Lady Hayashida picked up-"

"No talking about it." Rei reprimanded, clamping a hand over the younger woman's mouth. She shot an apologetic look at Ranma. "Orders from Lady Hayashida. No one outside the team is to know about what's going on in there at the moment. You could ask her, but I'm not going to risk my job by chattering, even to her Granddaughter."

If they noticed Ranma's half restrained twitch at being called a 'granddaughter' neither showed it.

"It's fine." Ranma said as another loud crash rang out.

Rei cursed loudly, getting an amused look from Marie. "Language old woman." The younger chided before chuckling as the senior mechanic flipped her off.

Rei sighed. "Well we need to get in there. Enjoy the rest of the day girls. Come on Marie." She started off for the door.

"Have fun you two." Marie waved as she followed her senior.

Once the two disappeared into the garage Ranma turned to Kasumi. The brunette was missing. Spinning on the spot she found Kasumi making her way down the side of the former stable.

Sighing, and feeling like this was quickly becoming a trend, Ranma jogged after her. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"I spotted a window down the side here." Kasumi said, leading the way around the corner. Wooden crates and old pallets were stacked against the side wall and at first Ranma couldn't spot the window. Then Kasumi pointed up. About three feet above the tallest pile of crates was a small slit window near the roofline.

"You aren't climbing that." Ranma said giving the other girl a sidelong glance.

Kasumi rolled her eyes. "I'm not crazy Ranma." She said, poking the stack of wood pallets. It wobbled dangerously. "You can probably get up there without issue though." She gave Ranma an expectant look.

Ranma just looked at the rickety pile of boxes. "Why do you want to look in there?" She asked.

"Don't you want to know what they're working on?" Kasumi asked.

"I little bit I guess." Ranma admitted. Still, getting caught would cause trouble and they just got here. Then she made the mistake of looking at Kasumi. The other girl was smiling expectantly and gestured up at the window.

"Well~" Kasumi said.

Ranma sighed. "Fiiiine." She said, before examining the pile again. She lightly tapped the box at head height. The entire structure wobbled. Yeah, that wasn't safe to climb. That meant a different option would be needed.

A simple hop took her to the roof of the building. She tapped the roof's edge with her right foot. It seemed stable. She shrugged. If it wasn't she'd find out in a moment. She stepped up to the edge and then, with the practice of several years of doing this outside Akane's window, fell forward off the roof gripping the roof's edge with her toes as she did.

She ignored the strangled. "RANMA!" from Kasumi and peered through the window. The window was grimy with a layer of film the nearly made it impossible to see through. Nearly, but not entirely.

Inside she could see nearly a dozen people congregating around what was clearly a tank. It was an odd tank. About the same length as the one outside it lacked a turret. Instead there was an open box at one end with a gun that stuck out over the body of the vehicle.

Ranma tilted her head to one side in thought. The gun looked bigger than the one outside. A much longer barrel, but also much wider as well. It wasn't the only such vehicle either. Another one could be seen at the far end of the building.

As for the people they were standing around a large sheet of metal about the size of the open top of the tank. It was leaning against the side of the tank and a crane with snapped cables was hanging over it. While she couldn't make out any words it was clear from the way Rei was gesturing threateningly to one of the other mechanics that something had definitely gone wrong.

"There's a couple of tanks in there." Ranma called down, "Looks like they were lifting something on top of one of them and the cables broke."

"That's nice. Get down here would you?" Kasumi called.

Ranma shrugged and, with one smooth motion, flipped off the building to land beside a frowning Kasumi. "What?" She asked the other girl.

Kasumi continued to frown but then sighed. "I keep forgetting what you consider normal at times." She said, "Honestly, I just meant climb the boxes. Not fall off the building."

"The boxes would have fallen over. Probably onto you." Ranma said with a shrug, "This was safer."

Kasumi looked up at the pile and hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose. Well, let's get back to exploring. You can tell me what you saw as we go." She said.

"Sure." Ranma shrugged and the two of them headed out to explore the rest of the property.

In Ranma's opinion, there wasn't much to see. She supposed the gardens were nice, but it was still only mid-March and a bit chilly at times. Though there was a badminton court and a swimming pool out back. Also, Ranma had found out the hard way that the borders of the property were surrounded by high walls concealed from view of the main building by tall hedges.

When they finished exploring it was nearing dinner time and they went looking for the dining room.

The dining room was located almost right beneath where Ranma's rooms were. The room was large, about half the size of Ranma's bedroom, with most of the space taken up by a large dark oak table that looked like it was probably older than the mansion itself.

A servant opened the door for them as they approached. The young Man bowed as they entered. "Good evening Young Miss. Miss Tendo. Your meal awaits." He said politely.

When they entered Ranma's Grandmother was sitting not at the large table, but at a smaller one by the window. Enough room had been made for it by shoving the large table against the wall opposite the window.

"Ranma, Kasumi, did you enjoy your day?" Himawari asked as they joined her at the table.

"We just barely finished walking around the property." Kasumi said, "Your home is quite large."

"That it is. This property has been in the family for several centuries now." The older woman said, "We've been fortunate enough to be able to hold onto it despite being in the middle of the city." She looked to Ranma, "And you? This is your home from now on as well."

Ranma shrugged. "It's.. big?" She said, not entirely sure what to say.

Her grandmother just nodded and took a sip of her tea. "Well then, why don't you tell me what you've been up to while we eat." She said, gesturing to the platters in front of her.

Ranma raised an eyebrow as she looked at the very nice silver platters… covered in french fries and battered fish. "Fish and french fries?" She said.

"Fish and Chips are what the English call it." Her grandmother said, "And I wanted something a little less formal for your first meal here. Though you can be sure the head chef will inevitably start doing something fancy later this week."

Ranma grabbed some fish and chips from the plates and grandmother instructed her on how exactly you were supposed to eat fish and chips. It apparently involved a very tart white sauce, lemon, and vinegar. It tasted pretty good to Ranma, though she personally thought that Kasumi's cooking was normally better than this.

As they were eating Ranma brought up something that had been bothering her for the last few hours. "So Ms Oto brought up something earlier." She said.

Himawari sighed and set down her fork. "About being the Heiress to the family?" She asked. Ranma nodded. Her grandmother rolled her knife between her fingers. "I had wanted to put off telling you. I failed to communicate that with Michiru."

"Why me?" Ranma asked, "I'm not even an actual girl."

Himawari lifted the knife and pointed it to the door. "What did you see as you explored the estate?" She asked.

"Grandma." Ranma said warningly. She frowned at the older woman.

"Humor me, please." She said.

"Gardens, the tanks by the stable," Kasumi said.

Ranma frowned but nodded. "There was the pool, the tennis court and… Why are you shaking your head?" She asked.

"Not the things Ranma. What about the people? Did you see anyone who wasn't a servant?" Her grandmother asked.

Ranma looked at Kasumi who shook her head. Neither of them had seen anyone who wasn't wearing some form of uniform or doing some job for the family. "No one," Ranma said as Kasumi stayed quiet.

Himawari nodded. "The Hayashida school has hundreds of followers who follow its philosophies not just here in Japan, but around the world. Yet our family is all but dead. The main line at least. The less said about some of the branch families the better." She picked her cutlery up again and cut into another piece of fish. "Your mother is no longer socially acceptable since she ran away with no good reason. Despite that I refuse to simply pass it onto her sister."

"I have an aunt?" Ranma asked.

"You do, and she serves as an example that your mother got her poor judge of character from me." Her eyes tracked to Kasumi. "This is not a topic to be had in front of people from outside our family. Unlike the disaster from before Ms. Tendo has no involvement in this matter."

"I can leave," Kasumi said, sliding her chair back.

The older woman waved her down. "Stay. There will be plenty of time on another day to discuss the family's dirty laundry. Still, the point is that I have no other viable option. You aunt is unacceptable, and most of our cousins have no interest in the school. Well other than one girl about a year older than your records claim you are."

"Does that mean I have to learn Sensha-do?" Ranma asked, resigning herself to the possibility. Honestly, she barely had any idea what exactly Sensha-do was other than Tanks.

Himawari shook her head. "No. Not unless you ask to learn." She said, "I tried that with your mother. All it left me with was an empty house and no heir. Not to mention I imagine your mother would have more than words for me if I tried to force it on you."

"Oh." Well that was a bullet dodge, though was it her imagination or was Kasumi looking a little bit put out?

"Now, let us return to the meal, and please tell me what you did today," Himawari said. They dug back into the meal and small talk overtook them for the next half hour. Once it was done Ranma's grandmother excused herself. "Business piled up while I was away I'm afraid. I need to head back upstairs and make more phone calls." She said apologetically before leaving.

Following that Ranma and Kasumi headed back upstairs. They paused at the base of the stairs. "I'm going to do some reading and get settled in." Kasumi said, pointing towards her room.

"Think I'll go practice a bit, then go and poke around my room for a bit." Ranma replied.

"Well, good night then Ranma. I'll see you tomorrow." Kasumi said waving as she started up the stairs.

Ranma waved back. "G'nite Kasumi." She said before heading out the front door. There had been a nice empty looking clearing out back, perfect for her to practice in. Now… where exactly had it been?

-0-0-0-0-0-

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

Ranma groaned as she stirred awake. She had, after several hours, managed to get to sleep on the overly soft bed. She shook her head and yawned loudly.

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

"I'm awake." She called, sitting up and stretching. She yawned loudly again.

"The Lady wishes you to be informed that breakfast will be in ten minutes in the dining room. Please be there miss." The servant, a young woman whose voice Ranma couldn't recognize, said through the thick wooden door.

"Okay." She called and headed for the ensuite bathroom. There wasn't enough time to have a bath, but maybe she could manage a quick shower?

Seven and a half minutes later she exited her room, closing the oak door behind her.

In the dining room she found the other girl sitting with her grandmother. "Good morning." Ranma yawned as she sat down.

Kasumi just yawned in reply as she nibbled on a piece of toast. Unlike what Ranma had expected Kasumi looked like she had just thrown something on and dragged herself downstairs. Her hair was disheveled and looked like it was rumpled on one side.

"Kasumi?" Ranma asked.

The brunette finally looked up from her plate and blinked at her. "G'morning Ranma." She mumbled sleepily from behind her toast.

Himawari chuckled. "It appears she spent too much time reading and not enough sleeping." She said as she sipped another cup of tea. She never seemed to not have a cup of tea actually.

Kasumi yawned, barely managing to remember to stifle it. "Mmm, sorry." She mumbled, "I was reading the math textbook last night. Then it was four o'clock."

"Aren't you the one who told me not to worry?" Ranma asked. She had also done some studying the night before, but it was only a couple of hours before she decided to try and sleep.

"Not worrying, just lost track of time," Kasumi replied, taking a long drag from her own teacup.

"Scrambled eggs Ranma?" Her grandmother pushed a bowl full of eggs across the table.

It was at that moment Ranma realized that the table was laden with a very English breakfast selection. Eggs, bacon, sausages, a small pillar of toast were all on the table. It looked, and smelled, delicious. A small bowl of oranges and apples sat beside Ranma's grandmother. The peelings from at least one orange lay discarded on a small plate beside it

"Sure." Ranma started piling food onto her plate.

As they ate Himawari began to lay out how things were going to go. "So, starting today, both of you will be getting help from a cram Tutor. Ms. Carlile comes highly recommended, but she is not familiar with our situation nor is she part of my permanent staff. So please do watch what you say." She said.

Ranma and Kasumi both nodded their understanding. Well, Ranma nodded her understanding, Kasumi seemed to just echo her a moment later.

"During lunch and after Ms. Carlile has finished with you for today Michiru will oversee your lessons in comportment." She paused as Ranma groaned. "I understand you may not want this Ranma, but St. Gloriana students are required to hold themselves to a fairly high standard of behaviour. Those students who average at least ninety percent and who are in good standing with their peers are invited into the Tea Garden."

Ranma sighed. That was not a surprise. From what she had learned over the last week St. Gloriana was a school for the rich or talented. "What's the Tea Garden?" She asked.

"The Tea Garden is a mixed use building. Mostly it is small lounges and tea rooms for visiting with friends or studying. The building also includes a rather respectable library on subjects important to the school and it houses the meeting rooms for the various alumnae councils who decide where the schools donations shall be spent." Himawari confirmed, "Those who are permitted entrance are given names based off tea."

Ranma paused, her own teacup partway to her lips. "Tea?" She asked.

"Yes. St. Gloriana has something of a Teacup culture." Her grandmother said, "It's something that evolved out of our own family's fascination and association with England over the years. When St. Gloriana first started its Sensha-do club my grandmother was invited as its first instructor. She left a legacy there that has continued to this day."

It would seem that while she might have left the lunacy of Furinkan High behind, St. Gloriana had its own form of madness.

"Many traditions can seem silly, but they do have a purpose," Himawari said, knowingly. "Give them a try before you disregard them. You may find some enjoyment in them if you let yourself."

"Hmm." Ranma hummed non-committedly. It reminded her of martial arts Tea Ceremony and that had been nearly unbearable for her. Holding formal posture was taxing in ways other than the physical. Oh god, she hoped that this tea fascination didn't extend to formal ceremonies.

The rest of the meal devolved into small talk as Ranma's Grandmother shared a few stories from her own time at St. Gloriana until Michiru showed up to take them away to classes. Though not before the head servant had dragged Kasumi away scolding her for leaving her room without properly combing her hair. The other girl had offered protests that sounded too sleepy to be taken seriously to Ranma.

-0-0-0-0-0-

English manners were… annoying. Not hard, or difficult, but annoyingly precise. Hold the cup like so. Use this spoon for this. That spoon for that. No, don't use that knife like that. Hold it like so, and so on and so forth.

Perhaps the most annoying thing about the etiquette lesson was how much of it overlapped her previous experience at the Chardin's estate. And not in a good way. Apparently, English manners were different from _French_ manners in small obnoxious ways that, as far as Ranma could tell, were entirely arbitrary and created merely to foster resentment.

Ranma sighed as she rubbed the back of her hand where Michiru had smacked it with a ruler several times. The skin wasn't even irritated, the middle-aged woman didn't have the strength to leave a mark, but she could still feel the phantom sensation of the strikes.

Across the table from her, Kasumi had her hand underneath a bundle of ice. As it turned out Ranma had actually had a better grasp of fine manners than Kasumi. A mixture of her own experience with the Chardins, and the fact that Kasumi had been half asleep when Michiru was lecturing them.

"Are you alright Kasumi?" Ranma asked.

The brunette shot her a smile over the textbook she was reading. "I'm fine Ranma. My hand is a little sore, but I can deal with it. I probably shouldn't have been sle-ee-eping." She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "I'm just glad Ms. Carlile wasn't that strict."

"Only for you," Ranma said with a grimace. Kasumi had basically breezed through the tests that the woman had put before them while Ranma had struggled. Years of academic neglect didn't disappear overnight even when you had the time to study. Still, the young teacher had said she wasn't entirely hopeless.

"Just remember to study," Kasumi said absently as she went back to her textbook.

"Yeah, yeah…" Ranma sighed and cracked open the book in front of her. There was still a half hour until dinner, she could probably make some progress on the math work she'd been assigned. Probably. Gods she hated math.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Thank you to Gekkou_Yoko for helping with this chapter~ *Friendly Kitsune Tail Wave*

We haven't hit St. Gloriana's yet, but I'm hoping to make it there by the end of chapter 3. Instead we have a chapter about Nodoka's side of the family and Kasumi. I would like to know what you think about this Kasumi.

Also feel free to speculate on the future~ (I love hearing your ideas and thoughts!)


	3. Chapter Three

"… So it was that after new Matriarch of the Hayashida Family joined the reformation movement in the fall of 1992 things began to change. With three of the Great Families on board with his plans, Chairman Sarutobi Kishi was able to begin pushing through with his plans to update Sensha-do for the new millennium.

**The New Engine Standard**

The first of Chairman Sarutobi's reforms, known as the New Engine Standards Order, was instituted on 23rd April of 1993.[45] As discussed previously the reformationists believed that the lessons taught in Sensha-do, especially at less professional levels, were coming to reflect the current state of the modern Tanks and their proper implementation less and less. An important part of this was simply how fast modern tanks can traverse the field of battle and so with this order, a new standard was implemented that would have far-reaching effects for Sensha-do and those practicing it.

The new standards created a system that would regulate the replacement of the traditional original engines in all Sensha-do tanks with new engines designed to increase the maximum speeds of Sensha-do vehicles without removing the traits that characterize the vehicles on which the sport is based. As the chairman himself said:

"There is more to Sensha-do than just driving in formation or firing an accurate volley. Each tank, whether a Tiger, or a Churchill, or a Type 89 has unique lessons to teach its crew. Lessons of humility, of courage, of honour. If we removed what made these tanks unique we would merely be handicapping future generations. So while we must make sure that the lessons of strategy these vehicles impart to our youth remain relevant we must also ensure that we do not damage the spirit of Sensha-do."[46]

So it was that while the new engines would allow greater speeds for all vehicles they were specifically tailored to ensure that the reliability and quirks of each vehicle remained as close to the original as possible. This system rates engines on two levels.

The engine is granted a rating in horsepower based upon the strength of the engine it is intended to replace.

The engine is given a letter designation, pulled from the Latin Alphabet, based upon the reliability of the engine with letters further down the alphabet signifying worse reliability.

Those vehicles that historically possessed poor reliability are forbidden from having engines with a higher reliability rating than they have been issued. At the same time, a Vehicle must possess an engine with an HP rating identical to their historical design.

This order, while a progressive measure that helped pave the way for the exciting matches of today, was but the first of several measures that had much further reaching consequences than anyone at the time could have realized." ~ A Reflection on the Sensha-do Reformation of 1993, By Totoro Nishimura; Circa 2008

-0-0-0-0-0-

With Grace and Elegance

A Girls Und Panzer/Ranma ½ Crossover

Chapter Three:

By: Grounders10

-0-0-0-0-0-

Ranma's bedroom was a bit big in her opinion. She had stayed in luxury homes before. The Chardin's was a prime example of how opulent rich homes could be. However, the room she had been given there, as large as it was, was barely more than half the size of her bedroom alone. With the kitchen, music room, bathroom, tea room, closet, and sunroom her rooms were bigger than many apartments she had been in before.

It was a bit much even for her ego. Why was the music room empty except for a few instruments on display and a couple of chairs? It was nearly half the size of her bedroom and it was basically wasted space? The kitchen was forbidden and completely unstocked even if it wasn't. She had checked. Even the bathroom was too much. What use did she have for a bath that actually had its own deep end? It was a bathtub, not a swimming pool.

Then there was the closet. It was just a closet. Big enough to fit Akane's bedroom in, but just a closet. Except for the floor hatch that led to a ladder that led to a one-way door into a tunnel that apparently led to the storage shed by the tennis court.

All things considered, she did like her rooms, it was hard not to with how much space she had. And they had other small perks.

The first night she had taken time to explore the room and had been poking around near one of the bookcases by the door when she had found a wooden tile that was loose. The clu-chunk that she felt as much as heard when she fiddled with it had damn near scared her half to death. She had far too much experience with the Kunos and other near death-trap locations to consider it a good thing. In an instant, she had been standing in the center of the room waiting for whatever trap she had accidentally activated to trigger.

The light show that started playing across her ceiling was not what she expected. Blues, pinks, and greens danced across the high ceiling and lasted about ten minutes. Once she had stopped looking for the spikes, or swinging axes, or other miscellaneous implements of death, she had found it to be quite relaxing.

That night she had found two more hidden switches that caused other light shows and another that played music. Girly tinkling music that was not her taste, but it was fairly soothing.

As she went to sleep that first night she had only one question, who had bothered to install so many hidden features into the room, and why?

-0-0-0-0-0-

The next few days settled into a stable routine. Wake up, eat, go to lessons that would alternate between etiquette and schoolwork. And somewhere along the way, Ranma would manage to fit in some martial arts practice, usually after dinner. It was quiet compared to Nerima, though really how long that was going to last was anyone's guess. There was approximately zero chance that the Amazons would remain oblivious to her departure for long. That they hadn't yet managed to find and bother her was a blessing as far as Ranma was concerned.

Their lessons wrapped up for the third day just after three thirty and both Ranma and Kasumi headed for their rooms. Kasumi waved goodbye on the stairs and quickly disappeared into the guest quarters. Ranma took the stairs into the family areas of the manor, her mind occupied with the lessons from earlier.

As she passed by her Grandmother's office she heard her Grandmother's voice drift out of the slightly ajar door. On hearing her own name she paused and listened.

"...and my answer is no. I will not force Ranma to learn." Her Grandmother said.

There was a sigh from another person inside. Ranma carefully tried to peer around the edge of the door. The gap was insufficient to see the other person in the room, and pushing the door open further would, as she had learned the day before, make more than enough noise to get their attention.

"With the current situation." Mrs. Oto's voice drifted through the gap.

"My ungrateful daughter can bugger herself with a tank shell. I am not driving off another member of my family." Grandmother replied.

"It's not just Misato who is pushing. The Federation is concerned." The head servant replied. "We are one of the four major schools and it is only because of our continued support for the reforms."

"I know." Her grandmother walked into view, coming around the corner of her desk before disappearing out of sight again. "Naming Misato as heir would endanger the reforms. That I cannot allow."

"And if you die and Ranma has no skill in Sensha-do she will have grounds to appeal your will. The head of the family is, by the rules of the Hayashida clan-"

"I do not need to be reminded of the rules." Her grandmother snapped. Silence fell for a long minute. "I will not lose another to my own failings."

"Lady Hayashida…" Michiru trailed off.

"The answer is no Michiru." Her grandmother's voice was quiet, almost below Ranma's ability to hear. "Ranma will make her decision, free from our influence." She sounded tired. It gave Ranma the feeling that she has had this or another similar conversation many times before.

"With respect, even our lack of pressure is in and of itself influence." The head servant countered.

"Then our silence will speak for us." Her grandmother replied, "Go. I have things I need to return to."

There was a pause. "Very well milady." Footsteps headed for the door.

When Mrs. Oto opened the door and stepped into the hall Ranma was already around the next corner leaning against the wall holding her books, frowning as she thought about what she had just heard. On the one hand, it was nice to hear that her grandmother didn't have any plans to force her into this girl's sport without her asking for it. On the other hand, there was apparently a lot more going with the Family's succession than she had realized.

The rules of the Hayashida family had something about the head of the family being what exactly? If she had to guess she'd bet the head of the Family was supposed to be the Head of the School as well. It wasn't like she wanted to be the head of the family, or wanted to practice Sensha-do but…

She sighed. "What to do…" She mumbled. What were the reformations they were talking about? Something to do with Sensha-do, that she was certain of. Everything seemed to come back to it around here. Well, that or tea.

She glanced down at her books. She had time, she could drop them in her room and try finding something in one of the sitting room libraries. She knew she had seen a few books on Sensha-do in the one nearest her room. Making up her mind she darted into her room, punching in her door code twice after she accidentally typed it too fast for the machine to read, and left her books there before going looking for the nearby sitting room.

There was a TV there set into the wall with a large couch as several reclining chairs. A desk was in the corner, and shelves were set up on either side of the TV. Starting on the left she began searching the shelves.

The books were quite varied. '_An analysis of the 1984 National Sensha-do tournament finals match between and Pravda High Schools'_ had a nice leather binding and was about as thick as her math textbook, but somehow she doubted it would help her figure out what the 'reformation' was. Other books included '_How to Kill a Mockingbird'_, '_Tea Puns, A Connoisseur's Guide to Humour'_, and '_Myths of Early War Tank Design'_.

She made a note of the book on Tea Puns. It might help to be read up on that sort of thing if what she feared about her new school was true. It was, however, at present useless. Just like the rest of the left-hand shelves.

Switching to the right-hand shelves did not produce an immediate result either. Books like '_Seven Way to Adjust the Tracks on a Matilda II in Five Minutes'_, and '_Her Majesty's Chefs: Cooking in Confined Spaces'_ were not helpful.

Just about halfway through this part of her search, she found something quite a bit more helpful. '_A Reflection on the Sensha-do Reformation of 1993', By Totoro Nishimura; Circa 2008_.

It was, like the rest of the collection, bound in leather. Red leather this time. She pulled the book, which was about half as thick as the thin shelf it was on was wide, out and looked curiously at the cover. Well, it was about _a_ reformation of some kind. With luck, it was the right reformation. Glancing at the room's clock she quickly slipped the book under one arm and headed back to her room. She could read it once she was done with that night's homework.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Two days later, in the early evening just after dinner, Ranma flipped a page in the book, humming thoughtfully as she did. The book covered the changes in Sensha-do during a period from 1988 to 1995 when a strong push came to reform the art in the wake of several incidents and severely declining viewership and participation. It talked about the incidents that lead to the push, and the reformation itself. There was some discussion about the aftermath, but she hadn't gotten that far yet.

One thing that stood out though was just how much influence the four big Sensha-do Schools had over the entire process. With so many of the sitting committee members of the era having come from one school or another even having two of the four schools stand against the reforms had been enough to stonewall the push for years.

She sighed as she finished a chapter and leaned back in her deck chair. A breeze rustled her bangs and she turned in her seat to look out over the gardens below the balcony by her room. Her book fell shut with one finger between the pages to keep her place.

A little ways away Kasumi looked up the table where she was working on her homework. "Something wrong?" She asked.

Ranma shrugged. "A bit?" She replied. "This got all technical all of a sudden. I have no what half the stuff in this chapter even means." The last four pages of the chapter had been nothing but tables outlining acceptable engines for use in Sensha-do under the new rules.

"Really?"

Ranma held up the book, flipping back to tables. "I'm not a mechanic." She said.

Kasumi leaned across the table and squinted at the book. "What is a GMC 200HP-N supposed to be?" She asked.

"It's a table of engines, so I'd guess an engine." Ranma said setting the book down in her lap again. "The number is the power of the engine and the letter is part of their system to tell how reliable it's supposed to be. That part is explained here, but what the hell does it mean by 'use leaded gasoline only'. There's a bunch of terms I don't recognize here."

Kasumi sat back down. "Well, you might need to do more reading then." She quirked an eyebrow. "Or you could study like you're supposed to."

"Homework's done," Ranma replied, rolling her eyes.

Kasumi hummed at that, but didn't say anymore as she went back to her books. The silence lasted ten seconds before the other girl groaned and rubbed her forehead with two fingers. "I don't remember any of this from last time." She said.

"Remember what?" Ranma asked.

Kasumi held up her history book. "Any of this. They didn't talk about this at all at school." She said.

Ranma blinked. "They covered that in my middle school." She said as she read the title. In fact, she was fairly sure that was the same textbook issued by her old school.

"Well, they didn't cover it in mine." Kasumi sighed. She mumbled something that Ranma just couldn't quite hear. She suspected it was probably fairly impolite, especially by Kasumi's old standards.

She shrugged and went to crack open her book again when a low rumble that vibrated everything, including her, rolled over them. She blinked at leaned around the corner of her chair. Emerging from around the corner of the manor was the Valentine Tank. Ranma could make out Marie sticking out of the top of the turret. She was shouting something down into the turret as it rolled forward down the gravel trail that ran around the edge of the property.

"That is really loud," Kasumi said mildly before going back to her books.

Ranma nodded to herself, her eyes tracking the machine as rolled behind the low hedges of the garden. From where she was above it she could still see the turret and Marie.

She glanced down at her book as a thought occurred to her. Marie was a mechanic. More importantly, she was a tank mechanic so she probably knew what all this meant.

"Hey Kasumi. Can you keep my stuff from blowing away?" She asked as she stood up.

The other girl raised her head from her books again. "Why?" She asked carefully, watching as Ranma slid a bookmark between the pages and secured the book under one arm.

"Just need to ask someone a few questions." She replied before taking a running leap off the balcony.

"RANMA!" Kasumi shouted. Ranma landed on the head of an angel decorated fountain and waved cheerily to the other girl, who was standing at the balcony edge giving her an annoyed look, before leaping to the hedge and running across the top of it after the tank.

Marie looked up as the redhead landed with a clatter on the turret behind her. "Hey!" Ranma half-shouted. The tank's engine was really quite loud this close.

"What are you doing here? Mako, stop the vehicle." She shouted the second half down into the turret. Gravel flew everywhere as the vehicle skidded to a sudden halt. Ranma wobbled for a moment, but kept her balance as the momentum bled off. "Jumping on a moving vehicle is a terrible idea kid." She scolded.

Ranma shrugged. Falling off it probably wasn't any worse than getting hit by a car, and that had only stung a little after she'd pried the front end open enough for her to get loose. "I've dealt with worse." She replied honestly.

The older woman just looked at her for a moment then sighed. "Sure you have. Look we're in the middle of a test drive, what do you need?"

Ranma opened her book to the tables and held it out to Marie. "I was wondering if you could suggest something to help me with this." She said.

The mechanic raised an eyebrow as her eyes ran down the list on the page. "When did you start reading about this sort of thing?" She asked.

"I was bored." Ranma deflected, "Just grabbed a random book off the shelf for some reading." She managed to not shift uneasily as Marie looked her over.

"Well I can write up a list if you'd like. Most of the books I can think of have copies in the manor's library." Marie said after abandoning her skeptical look. "If you come by the garage in a couple hours I can have it ready for you."

Ranma beamed. "Thanks." Her expression fell. "But, um… Can you not tell my Grandma? Or anyone who would tell her?" She'd rather not get caught eavesdropping.

The mechanic chuckled and smirked. "What it to be a surprise for her then?" She asked.

Ranma shook her head. "Just reading. Don't want anyone thinking there's anything more going on." She said.

Marie, clearly not believing her, waved a hand airily. "I won't tell her, unless she asks. Not worth my job to lie about something to the boss lady." She said.

She'd just have to not give her Grandma a reason to ask then. "Good enough. See you in a couple hours." Ranma said, closing her book and leaping off the tank onto the hedge. The tank rumbled back to life behind her as she ran back to the manor.

Kasumi was reading her textbooks when Ranma returned. "Find out what you wanted?" She asked without looking up.

"She'll have a book list for me later." Ranma replied as she settled back onto her deck chair.

"You know if someone comes out here and you are reading that book, there's going to be questions." Kasumi said idly.

Ranma paused with her book halfway open. She pictured Michiru catching her reading the book. It wouldn't be bad, but the conversation would be fairly awkward.

"If you want to read out here this would be the perfect time to do some more studying." Kasumi sang softly.

Closing her book Ranma stood up with a sigh. "Be back in a few minutes." She said, heading for her room. She couldn't wait for the exams in a few days. Then she'd be able to do what she wanted to for the next week without worrying about school.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The evenings of March, even this late in the month, were chilly enough to raise goosebumps across her skin as Ranma walked up to the large doors of the garage. The men and women who worked there had mostly left for the night. A couple were working on the old rolls-royce that her Grandmother had been driving when they arrived. Neither of them looked up as she crossed the courtyard to the closed doors.

She knocked on the door, sending the large wooden doors quivering in their frames. The noise drew the brief attention of the two working on the car, before they returned to their work. After a few moments the smaller inset door clicked and swung open. The blond woman on the other side smiled at her.

"I was wondering when you'd show." Marie said before stepping aside. "Come in, I've got the booklist lying on the workbench. Just, watch your step. A lot of the idiots in here forget to clean up half the time."

Ranma paused in the doorway. "I'm allowed?" She asked.

Marie nodded. "Yep, asked the boss for some clarification about that. She said it was fine to let you in. C'mon, let me show you what we're working on." She waved Ranma in.

Stepping over the bottom frame of the door she looked about. Just like a few days earlier the two tanks were in the same bays as of them were in bays to her right, taking up two of the six possible bays in the garage. To her right the closest one had a couple mechanics working on the engine.

"What are they?" She asked. With a closer view she could see that the odd turrets on the vehicles weren't turrets. They were just boxes with a gun sticking out over the engine compartment. A really, really big gun. Like the one pointing down the driveway.

Marie grinned widely. She white teeth almost shining in the spotty lighting of the garage. It reminded her a bit of Nabiki. "They're the Self Propelled 17pdr, Valentine, Mk. 1, Archer." She said, "A 17pdr wielding tank destroyer based on the Valentine chassis."

"Like the one parked outside?" Ranma asked, walking up to the nearest one, weaving around a pile of open boxes full of parts.

"Yep. They share a lot of the same parts. Not everything obviously, but enough that the Boss Lady hopes it will help ease concerns that the school might have about logistics. Silence some of the traditionalists." The blonde said as she walked up to the vehicle.

Ranma cocked her head to the side with a frown. "Why wouldn't they want this?" She gestured towards the tank.

Marie sighed. "Well, St. Gloriana's Sensha-do club is rather old now and for the entire time they've used pretty much the same tanks. Matilda IIs, their Churchill, and a handful of Crusader tanks. Following the Hayashida doctrine, the original one not the one your Grandmother pioneered, they keep to formations and both move and fire in concert. It requires a lot of discipline to do right. Or as they say, Grace and Elegance." She said. She rapped the metal side-skirting with her knuckle.

"This is a tank destroyer. Gloriana has never bothered fielding anything like this before. And that's caused a few issues. None of their tanks are really meant for tank on tank warfare." The mechanic continued. Ranma nodded along, making mental notes as she went on. "Matildas, Mk. I and II Crusaders, and the early Churchill all used the 2pdr gun. And as far as I'm aware St. Gloriana doesn't stock 6pdrs for their Crusaders. Procurement doesn't think it's needed."

"I'm guessing the 6pdr is a lot better than the two?" Ranma asked, as she hopped up onto what she realized was the raised front of the tank. There was a view slit in the same spot as the Valentine out front, which was probably so the driver could see what they were doing.

"Quite a bit better, but it wasn't really an issue until recently." Marie said, clambering up the tank to take a seat on the steel roof of the crew compartment. She rested an elbow on the open hatch. "About a decade back Kuromorimine started picking up heavy tanks to deal with Pravda High's Russian T-34s. Pravda picked up a couple of heavy tanks of their own and since they pretty much everyone who is still in the running has been scrambling to find heavy armour of their own. 'Cept St. Gloriana. They've managed to come in as the runner up twice in Nationals over the last decade and made the top four nearly every year. But they always get stopped by Pravda or Kuromorimine. 2pdrs are no match for Tiger tanks and T-34s. They still knock out tanks, but they always have to take the fight to under a hundred meters. Knife fighting range for tanks."

"And by the time they get there, there aren't enough of them to matter," Ranma observed as she peeked into the hatch of the crew compartment. The inside looked big enough for a crew of four. If they didn't mind being packed like sardines.

"Yep. Closest they came to victory in the last ten years was a few months back during the winter tournament against Oarai. So damned close." She sighed. "I was really rooting for Darjeeling too."

"Darjeeling?"

"She was the Captain of St. Gloriana's Sensha-do team. Graduates this month so you won't be meeting her on the ship." Marie said.

Ranma made a noise of disinterest as she leaned down into the crew compartment. It was more cramped than she thought at first. The gun took up a lot of the room, and when the racks of ammunition were filled it was going to be an even tighter fit. Fitting four people in here would be difficult.

"So that's why the Boss Lady decided that when it came time to grease a few palms to get you a chance to get in that maybe something could be done to improve certain deficiencies." The mechanic continued. "The Archer fields what's known as a 17pdr, one of the most powerful guns legal in Sensha-do." She shook her head. "I wouldn't have wanted to be on the team that had to figure out how to make this baby safe to use."

"Is this supposed to be so cramped?" Ranma asked as she pulled back from the hatch.

"It's a tank. But, well, we had to make a few concessions to get the Archers legal for competition." Marie said with a sigh. "Open topped vehicles aren't allowed simply as a safety issue. One stray shell falls into the crew compartment, or someone sticks their head out at the wrong moment? Gets really messy really quickly."

Ranma winced. She could probably take a hit, but the average girl would probably be nothing more than mist. "Yeah, messy…" She said, trying to banish the nasty mental image.

Marie nodded grimly. "Yep, so Federation rules mandate that all open opened vehicles must be modified with a roof. Doing so has raised the profile of the tanks by between ten and twenty-two inches along the length of the crew compartment. We've used the same hatch as the valentine and tried to keep from adding too much weight to the vehicle. Going to be a bit cramped though, but the firepower will be a nice addition I think. Once they figure out how to use these things."

Ranma hummed non-committedly. Beside her Marie turned to the two mechanics working on the engine. "You done yet?" She asked.

One of them looked up from where she was using a wrench to tighten something in the engine. "Just finishing up. Give us a second then you can try starting her up." She said.

Marie grin and pumped a fist. "About damned time." She said, turning to Ranma. "This was supposed to be working yesterday."

"Not our fault the last owner paid fuck all attention to this girl." The same mechanic said with an annoyed tone to her voice. She strained against the wrench then let it go. "There we are. Should be ready for a test run." The two mechanics closed up the engine compartment and hopped off the armoured beast.

Marie grinned and slid through the hatch easily. "C'mon, let's see what this girl can do." She said as she disappeared inside the tank.

"Just a start test Marie!" The other mechanic shouted.

"Spoilsport!" She yelled back with a laugh.

Ranma rolled her eyes. "I'm just here for that booklist." She said, reminding the mechanic that she hadn't come down just to be shown around the garage.

Marie scoffed and her head appeared below the hatch. "I'll get it to you in a second. Just take a seat on top." She said before disappearing again.

Sighing, Ranma found a seat on the top of the crew compartment. She sat there for a few seconds, bored as she listened to Marie mutter and curse as she knocked over what sounded like a toolbox within the vehicle. "Alright. Here we go." Was all the warning Ranma got before the entire vehicle came to life.

Ranma had ridden in cars, taken the train, and had even stood on the Valentine in the yard earlier that day; but feeling the still metal plates before her begin to rumble and shake as a roar that reminded her of Mt. Horai's collapse sprang forth from the engine of the vehicle was entirely different. Trains shook and rattled, but modern trains sounded like someone's oversized hairdryer when they were moving, and all the cars Ranma has encountered were fairly quiet little vehicles intended for the tight confines of Tokyo's streets and back alleys.

The Archer rumbled beneath her, vibrating her entire body, like a giant growling animal from some long forgotten age. The feeling stirred _something_ inside her as she sat there, something that normally only stirred when she was engaged in an amazing fight.

"So," She jumped at Marie's voice and turned to look at the older girl who was now half out of the hatch leaning on an elbow with an all-knowing smirk. When had she climbed out of the tank? She felt her face grow warm with a blush. "What'd think?" The mechanic asked.

Ranma hesitated for a moment as she shook off the feeling that had rolled over her. "I- My mother did this sort of thing?" She asked, half-shouting over the noise of the engine.

Marie shrugged. "So I'm told. No idea why she didn't like it. I've always loved the roar of the engine and the guns. Makes you feel something nothing else can." She smirked and Ranma felt her blush increase. The mechanic patted her on the shoulder. "Let me turn her off and then we'll go get that booklist kid." She disappeared back into the vehicle and moments later the engine died.

A small part of Ranma wished it had kept running.

Marie popped out of the turret and carefully climbed down the side of the vehicle. "She starts just fine." She said to the other mechanic, "But someone left their toolbox down there. We're going to be picking nuts and washers out of here for the next week."

The annoyed curse that the other mechanics uttered seemed to finish the job of rebooting Ranma's brain and she hopped off the tank as her blush faded.

"This way," Marie said, leading the way through the mess to a workbench at the back of the room. The mechanic had to move a few tools and a small box around, but she quickly pulled out a rumpled piece of paper. "Here we go." She said handing it to Ranma.

The redhead took it and glanced over it. It was… rather long actually. There had to be over a hundred books on it with titles like '_Matilda and You: A Practical Guide to Tank Maintenance'_, '_The Way of the Nut', _and '_Tigers, Elephants, and Mauses, Oh My'_. Along with more normal titles like '_The Churchill Mark V User's Manual'_.

"That's… that's a lot of reading." Ranma said absently as she looked over the list.

"Yup. These machines are complex. Just maintaining them requires years of practice for most people. One of the reasons that St. Gloriana has always kept their vehicle list short is to avoid having to train their mechanics for more types of tanks. A small reason, but it's on their list." Marie said with a shrug. "Now, I wrote the list in a bit of an ad hoc manner, but I've marked the most basic ones you should read first with a star."

Ranma nodded, spotting a couple near the top. "I see them." She said. There were about twenty of names with the star.

"Good. Hope it helps." Marie said.

Ranma looked up at her. "Thanks." She said.

"No problem. Now get going before someone comes looking for you." Marie said, shooing her out the door.

Ranma let herself get hustled out the door, even while she spared a lingering glance for the machines sitting quietly in their bays. If she could do it without her Grandmother knowing she was tempted to come back later. Very strongly tempted.

-0-0-0-0-0-

A couple days later Ranma and Kasumi walked out of the building where the entrance exam had occurred.

Kasumi yawned and stretched as she walked through the door behind Ranma. "Ugh. I forgot just how long these things can be." She said, "Six hours. My brain feels like it's going to drip out of ears."

Ranma snorted at the image. "Could have been eight if we were slower." She said with a yawn. It exams had started at eight in the morning and it was just after two in the afternoon.

Kasumi shuddered and stuck out her tongue. "Bleh. I don't even want to think about that." She said.

Behind them Michiru, dressed in a more modern knee length dress with a jacket, chuckled. "Did the two of you at least do well?" She asked.

Ranma and Kasumi stopped by a fountain that was in the center of the plaza around which the government buildings were set. Ranma frowned, thinking back at the tests. "There was that question about the first prime minister after the war. Pretty sure I got that one wrong." She said.

"Those math questions near the end of the exam were a bit advanced." Kasumi said thoughtfully, "I had some trouble with those. It's been years since I needed that level of algebra."

"They weren't that hard." Ranma commented idly.

"Not like the history questions." Kasumi sighed, "I don't remember learning half of that at Furinkan at all."

Ranma rolled her eyes. That had been a very common mantra of complaint over the last week. "I think you just need to face it Kasumi, Furinkan was a bad school." She said dryly.

Kasumi nodded mournfully. "Yeah, I knew that, but I thought it was a little better than this." She replied, sticking her hands in her jacket pockets and yawning. "Ugh, I could do with a nap right now."

"That would be a pity." Michiru said, reaching into her purse and removing a pair of wallets. One was sakura blossom pink while the other was white. "For you two." She said holding the pink one out to Ranma, who took it with an exasperated look at the older woman, and the white out to Kasumi.

"Money?" Kasumi asked with a surprised tone as she looked into the wallet.

Michiru nodded. "Yes. Ranma, your Grandmother felt that now that you would have some free time it was time to give you your allowance. Kasumi since you are essentially in our care for the time being she decided to grant you one as well. Each wallet contains one hundred thousand yen in cash, and a card to a bank account in your name. Ranma, your account contains one point six million yen and will receive that much every two weeks. Kasumi, yours has three hundred thousand yen. Which you will receive, again, every two weeks."

Ranma blinked and looked up from examining the debit card in the wallet. "One million?" She repeated.

"One point six." Michiru corrected. Ranma's expression transitioned to one of blank disbelief. That was more money than Ranma had ever had at one time before. She'd come close a couple times, but living around Nabiki could get unexpectedly expensive.

"I- I wasn't expecting money, let alone this much." Kasumi said, carefully sliding her card back into the wallet.

"You are our responsibility now Ms. Tendo." Michiru said, "Now, we could go home. Or you can take advantage of the fact that you have the rest of the day off."

The full context of her suggestion was just making its way through Ranma's head when Kasumi brightened. "We could go shopping!" She said before throwing an arm around Ranma's shoulder. She staggered under the unexpected weight of the taller girl.

"Kasumi." She whined as the other girl hung off her like a limpet. She glared at the trying and to not giggle Michiru.

"Come on, shopping and we don't have to share it with my sisters. Besides, you could use a few more outfits." Kasumi said, poking her in the side.

Ranma squirmed. "Okay, we'll go shopping." She said, trying to not smile as she fought off the other girl. "Though, Kasumi stop, where is- Kasumi!" She jumped back from the other girl who stumbled without her support and nearly fell over. She glared at the other girl with a blush. "I swear you remind me of Nabiki way too much sometimes." She said, rubbing the side of her breast where the other girl had pinched her.

Kasumi regained her balance and shot her one of her old nearly angelic looks of obliviousness. "I have no idea what you mean." She said innocently.

Ranma gave her a flat look as their minder chuckled. "Alright girls, stop it. I know an area nearby with a few good boutiques and cafes. We can get a snack and then go shopping alright?" Michiru said. The two girls both nodded and fell in with their minder as she led the way to the car for the trip.

Ranma made sure to sit as far as possible from Kasumi during the ride, giving the other girl somewhat sour looks that only earned amused smiles back. The ride to the shopping district was only a few minutes and the two of them piled out the moment they stopped.

Michiru locked the car and waved them towards the nearby crosswalk. "This way. There's a cafe nearby with excellent cinnamon rolls." She smiled at them and Ranma felt her mouth watering. Cinnamon rolls sounded wonderful after everything so far.

"Tea would be nice as well." Kasumi said, stifling a yawn.

"It is a cafe, they have plenty of both." Michiru replied, ushering them both down the street to the crosswalk. The street was somewhat quiet, not too surprising since it was mid-afternoon on a Monday. Still there were plenty of people coming in and out of the stores, many with full bags.

The Cafe that Michiru was leading them to was easy to spot. The sign above the door had two foxes at play in full colour and the sign on the street had a fox drawn beside a list of the day's special menu options.

"Here we are." Michiru said, leading the way through the open door. The inside was rather crowded for the time of day, though there were a few open places to sit. As they took their place in line a red fox jumped out of a booth and ran across the floor to jump up into another one, to the surprise of at least one person in it.

"It's a Fox cafe?" Ranma asked, looking to the older woman.

Michiru nodded. "They're quite adorable, just keep an eye on your food when you sit down." She gestured to a sign by the cash register that proclaimed 'the store is not responsible if a fox steals your food, drink, or wallet' in large hiragana.

"Ah." Ranma deadpanned, shaking her head. Foxes were adorable, but a fox cafe, really?

As the line moved forward slowly Ranma's mind wandered a little bit. She snorted as a fox disappeared around the end of the counter with a cookie in its jaws. A shout of surprise from the booth it came from a few moments later was met with laughter from half of the people in the cafe. The laughter settled down and the victim of the theft made their way to the back of the line. Presumably to replace the stolen cookie.

Then a loud shout, this time from outside the cafe, broke the quiet. "BRING THAT BACK!" Ranma tilted her head to the side. That sounded like Ryouga.

"Be right back." She said, ducking out of the line and out of the shop before either of her companions could say anything. There was a second shout and she ran down the street a couple of buildings to find it coming from an alleyway. Turning the corner into it she found Ryouga shouting at a dumpster. Or, more accurately, shouting at the gap underneath it.

"What are you doing Ryouga?" She asked exasperatedly. The black haired young man, several years older than her now, looked up from where he was crouching down near the dumpster.

He stared at her for a long moment. "Hello miss?" He asked, standing up and dusting his hands off.

Ranma stared at him flatly. He didn't recognize her? Of course he didn't, this was the idiot who let himself be fooled into believing she was his sister. "Ryouga, it's me, Ranma." She said flatly.

He blinked. "Ranma? Aren't you supposed to be…" He waved his hand a few inches above her head. She frowned and swatted his hand away.

"Mushrooms." She said. That did the trick as his eyes lit up, then he started snickering.

"You ate them again?" He said incredulously, Behind him a red fox, sandwich clutched in its mouth, bolted out from under the dumpster and down the alleyway without Ryouga noticing. It disappeared around the corner, which meant it might as well have been on another continent for all Ryouga would be able to find it.

Ranma sighed and grabbed him by the arm. "Come on, we can talk over lunch." She said dragging him from the alleyway.

"A fox stole my lunch." He said, waving back to the dumpster.

"And ran away when you weren't looking." She deadpanned, still pulling him along. He looked back and cursed before reluctantly allowing her to drag him along. She looped an arm through his and pulled him along. They got a few glances as they walked.

When they entered the cafe Ryouga looked up at the sign and sighed. "More foxes." He grumbled and she rolled her eyes.

"Behave. We aren't in Nerima." She told him, getting more grumbles.

"Ranma!" Kasumi waved from a booth and Ranma dragged him over there.

"Look who I found shouting at a fox." Ranma said as she slid into the booth next to Kasumi, and waved for Ryouga to sit across from her next to Michiru.

The older woman gave the young man an amused glance as she scooted over. "Kasumi told me that you might bring a friend back with you." She said, sliding a spare paper cup of coffee and a sandwich to him.

"Thank you." He said graciously, taking a sip of the coffee. "That fox stole my lunch." He said before pausing to stare at Kasumi. "Kasumi?"

"Yes?" She asked with a smile.

He waved a hand up and down with a frown. "Aren't you supposed to be a bit taller to?" He asked.

"Just a bit." She said with a smile.

Michiru snorted, and covered her mouth for a moment. "So," She said after a moment, "Do you normally disappear and come back with a boy on your arm?" She asked with a smile. Ryouga choked on his sandwich and took a long drink from his coffee cup while Kasumi started giggling.

Ranma snorted. "Wellll," She drawled with a smirk in Ryouga's direction, "I do like helping hopeless cases from time to time." She ignored the choking laugh Kasumi let out as she tried to take a sip of her tea. She returned Ryouga's flat look with one of Kasumi's 'I'm innocent and oblivious' smiles. Which seemed to cause Kasumi to dissolve into a minor fit.

Michiru took a sip of her coffee. "And how often is it this one?" She asked with a smile.

Ranma's innocent smile twitched into a grin. "Usually this one." She said before sticking her tongue out at Ryouga as he sighed and nibbled on the sandwich. Kasumi, still giggling too hard to drink her tea, slid Ranma's tea and a cinnamon bun over to her. "Thanks." She said and took a bite of the pastry. It was gooey, warm, and rich. She moaned softly. "Oh that's good." She said.

"There is a reason I come here, despite the thieving foxes." Michiru said as she took a bite of her own.

"So," Ryouga paused to take a bite of his sandwich, "Why are you both short… er. Shorter? Why?" He pointed from Ranma to Kasumi.

Ranma looked to Kasmi then back to Ryouga. "It's her fault." She said, pointing to Kasumi. The other girl tried to pull and innocent act, but failed miserably as she giggled away.

"Nooo, not me." She said between giggles.

"They were your mushrooms, and your idea." Ranma replied, taking a sip of her tea.

Ryouga's eyebrows were about as far up as they could get as he looked from one to another. A Fox poked its nose over the edge of the bench beside him and locked its gaze on Ryouga's sandwich. Without looking Ryouga gently pushed it away with one hand. It made a whining noise, then disappeared to bother another booth.

Ranma sighed. "It started a few months back. You remember that mess with the principal?" She asked.

He nodded. "Akane told me about it." He said. Ranma had to wonder if she'd told it to 'him' or to 'P-chan', but didn't bother asking.

"Well it kinda went like this," She said, going on to tell him about the mess that the principal had unleashed on them.

Ryouga finished his sandwich as she finished her story. "Going back a few grades? Not exactly something I'd be willing to sign up for." He said with a snort.

Ranma rolled her eyes. "I'm not exactly going back to our middle school." She pointed out before taking another bite of her much diminished cinnamon roll.

He shrugged before pointing a finger at her. "And you're rich now as well." He said.

She rolled her eyes. "My Grandmother is rich." She said and received a shrug in return. She sighed. "Where are you headed from here?" She asked.

"Going to try and find my way back to the farm." He said, sipping from his coffee cup, "I've left Akari alone for a while."

Ranma hummed irritably at that and finished her tea. Something about Akari just didn't sit right with her at times. Even if she had tried to help set the two of them up something about the relationship was… She finished her cinnamon roll. "How long has it been this time?" She asked.

"Two weeks I think? A bit over maybe?" He shrugged. He looked down at the coffee cup and set it aside. It must have been empty. "Well, thanks for the lunch." He said, getting up and shouldering his bag.

"Probably won't see you around for the rest of the year." Ranma said, "What with being on a ship and all."

He shrugged. "Well I'll see you whenever. Maybe next time we can have a spar." He said before nodding to Kasumi and Michiru. "Nice meeting you ma'am. Good to see you again Kasumi."

"Bye Ryouga." Kasumi waved as she sipped the last of her tea. Michiru waved politely from behind her cup.

Ranma watched as Ryouga walked out, a small frown on her face. She stared at the door for a minute after Ryouga had left.

"You know." Kasumi said with a sly tone, "If you keep staring after him much longer people are going to get the wrong impression."

Ranma rolled her eyes and looked to the other girl. "Really Kasumi? He's a guy. Hell, he's Ryouga." She picked up her empty cup and went to drink from it for a moment before remembering it was empty.

"Really getting that wrong impression~" Kasumi said with a sing-song tone.

Michiru chuckled. "Perhaps I should ask your Grandmother if we should look into his family history perhaps?" She offered with her own grin.

Ranma groaned at the ribbing. "Can we just get to the shopping now?" She asked, trying to ignore them.

"Eager to find something to impress someone?" Kasumi asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Kasumi!"

Michiru snickered. "Alright you two. Enough." She said waving them both down. She wiped her fingers off with her napkin. "Are you done Kasumi?" She asked. Kasumi popped the last of her cinnamon roll into her mouth and nodded. "Good, let's go."

The three of them left the shop, Kasumi nearly tripping on a fox on the way out. The shopping trip that followed lasted three hours and unlike the trip with Akane and her mother Ranma could admit that she enjoyed it a bit.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Six days later Ranma, who was lying on her back on her bed, flipped the page of the book, '_A Reflection on the Sensha-do Reformation of 1993, By Totoro Nishimura'_, which she was still reading and sighed. Despite reading a couple other books during her down time over the last few weeks there was still a lot in the book that went over her head. References to rules, safety measures, shell yields, and a thousand other things that she had little to no reference for. Still the political parts it talked about were making it rather clear, her family had a lot of influence over Sensha-do.

She paused as her thoughts drifted back to the Archer Tank Destroyer in the garage. She had gone by a few more times to ask Marie questions about the tanks. Including how to start and even drive them. Marie had been more than happy to show her the first, but had warned her off trying the second one without getting her Grandmother's permission. Which was a bit of a sticking point. She didn't want to start getting asked questions about why she was suddenly interested in Sensha-do.

A knock on her door broke her musings and she stuffed the book under her pillow quickly. "Come in!" She called.

The doors opened and Michiru and Kasumi came into the room. The head servant cast an eye to the small pile of luggage at the base of her bed, and the one additional suitcase full of books on the end of her bed. All of which were about Sensha-do to one degree or another. Her manga having been packed into another bag.

As casually as she could she flipped the bag shut, drawing an amused smile from Michiru. "Are you done packing?" The older woman asked.

"Almost. Just resting for the moment." Ranma said as the head servant ducked into the bathroom, undoubtedly heading for the closet. She came back a moment later with a pleased smile. "All empty, good. Kasumi is done with her packing so I'll leave the two of you to finish up whatever you have left. Do remember to leave something out for tomorrow."

"I will." Ranma said, watching as Michiru ducked back out of the room. She sighed heavily once the heavy door clicked shut.

"So relieved." Kasumi observed with amusement.

Ranma sent her a look that sent her into a fit of giggles. "Finding time to read this," She pulled out the book and quickly found her place in it again, "Is tricky. At least at school I should be able to find more time."

"Maybe." Kasumi said, jumping up onto the bed beside her. "So, are we going to do it?" She asked.

Ranma blinked at her. "Do what?" She asked.

Kasumi rolled her eyes at her. "Sensha-do. You've been spending a couple hours every evening in the garage the last few days. Nearly as much time as I spend during the day. You know we're probably going to have to pick a club so…" She trailed off expectantly, waving a hand at her.

She sighed and flopped onto her back, marking her place in the book before tossing it onto the pillow next to her. "I don't know. Maybe? I mean it sounds like doing it could help Grandma." She said, "It's a girls thing though. Mum would probably be annoyed when she finds out."

Kasumi rolled her eyes. "With respect to your mother, she isn't exactly playing with a full deck." She observed.

Ranma huffed, but nodded. Nodoka loved her, but her way of showing it was probably just a bit south of lunacy at times. The seppuku contract came to mind. Honestly if she'd been even a bit less crazy getting child abuse threats to stick would have probably been a lot harder than it had been. Maybe. The Principal had had a lot longer reach than they'd thought.

"It's still a girl's thing." Ranma said. She ignored the way Kasumi just raised an eyebrow and smirked. Even she could tell that there wasn't much force in that denial. Even if she did keep finding herself drawn to the garage almost every day. The rumble of the tanks as they moved almost called to her. She could only wonder what it would be like when the cannons fired.

"Mhmm, and that's stopped you before has it?" Kasumi asked, "I'm interested in it. It'll be a great adventure. A lot safer than what goes on in Nerima."

Ranma shot her a flat look. "People have been known to lose their heads doing this." She pointed out.

"Only when they stick them out of the tank." Kasumi replied, "I don't intend to be a commander."

"Hmmm…" Ranma sighed. "It would help Grandma." She said to the room.

"Mhmm." Kasumi nodded.

Ranma groaned. "I'll think about it okay?" She said.

"Okay, now need help packing?" The brunette asked.

Ranma pointed to her bookshelves which had been filled quite a bit over the last few weeks. "I need to figure out how to get those into this." She tapped the suitcase with her foot.

Kasumi looked at the bookshelf, then looked at the suitcase. She frowned. "Maybe get another suitcase?" She suggested.

Ranma looked at the bookshelf, then at the rather full suitcase, and sighed. "I'll call Michiru. Have someone send up another one." She said and reached for the phone on her side table. Hopefully it would be the last suitcase she needed. When did she get this much stuff?

-0-0-0-0-0-

Ranma yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes with the back of her hand. It was just after seven thirty in the morning and everyone had gathered outside the manor. The Phantom V was parked at the base of the steps, it's trunk being loaded with suitcases. Some of them were full of books, most were full of the rather large collection of clothing that she had gathered over the last few weeks. Neither her mother or her grandmother seemed to be restrained when it came to spending money in that particular area.

Not that she was much better really. At least one suitcase was filled with the results of that shopping trip a week earlier. Kasumi had good taste when it came to clothes shopping.

The Phantom V wasn't the only vehicle headed to the school. Behind it was a truck holding the rest of Ranma's suitcases and all of Kasumi's. The Phantom simply didn't have enough room anymore. Behind the truck was a small bus in which staff would be travelling with them. Their property on the ship was lacking in staff since no one used it according to her grandmother.

A low rumble of starting engines drew her attention to the garage yard. The Valentine and both Archers were in the yard being fueled and readied for the drive to the dock. They would be leading the procession to the docks when they left.

"You aw-aw-awake?" Kasumi yawned and shivered. The morning was unusually chilly for the time of year and it seemed to be affecting the older girl more, despite her zipped up coat.

"Are you?" Ranma asked as she adjusted her own coat which was hanging open. The cold air didn't affect her as much.

"Mhmm.." Kasumi shrugged and tried to stifle another yawn. As Ranma had learned the eldest, though perhaps now the youngest, Tendo was not an early riser by choice. Or hadn't been at this age. It didn't seem to matter how much sleep she got Kasumi always seemed to be tired when she first woke up.

"All ready to go I see." Ranma turned to see her Grandmother walking down the stairs with a smile.

"Grandma." Ranma smiled back.

Her Grandmother's expression fell. "There is something I need to speak with you about. A family matter." She said, directly the second line to Kasumi who nodded sleepily and walked over to the Phantom V where she got into the back seat. Ranma could see her settling herself against the window nearly asleep again.

"Well?" Ranma asked as she turned back to Himawari. "So?" She asked.

"This way." Her grandmother led her back up the stairs to a bench a distance away from the main doors. She sat down with a sigh. "Not so used to being up this early anymore." She said with a smile.

Ranma shrugged. "It's been nice sleeping in the last week." She admitted.

"I imagine it has." Himawari sighed. "There is no gentle way to bring this up. You have an Aunt. Her name is Misato Hayashida."

"I know." Ranma replied.

Himawari nodded. "Well do you know why I haven't brought her up this directly before?" She asked.

Ranma shook her head. "No."

Her Grandmother hummed softly. "Well, she's the primary reason I never cast out your mother after she ran off with Genma. Years ago, when I first inherited the position of Matriarch of the Hayashida School, there was a debate raging about the future of Sensha-do. These days it is known as the Reformation of Nineteen Ninety-Three."

"I know." Ranma said. Her Grandmother raised an eyebrow. "I've been reading a few books." She admitted.

"Hmm, and these books wouldn't have happened to include 'A Reflection on the Sensha-do Reformation of 1993' by a certain Totoro Nishimura would it?" Himawari asked. Ranma blinked and her Grandmother chuckled. "I quite liked that book of his. He makes many excellent points about the fallout of the Reformations." Her lips quirked upwards at Ranma's frown. "Oh don't pout my dear, as adorable as it makes you look no one will take you seriously if you pout."

Ranma just pouted more, drawing a laugh from her grandmother.

The older woman quieted down after a few moments. "While Sensha-do has recovered, and in fact reached far greater heights than it has ever known, back then my opinion was in the minority in our family. Many did not think there was anything wrong with how things had been done. Many of those people are no longer here. Some removed themselves from the family. Others simply died of old age. Some though, well I think my relationship with your mother speaks for itself. I was not a good mother, not attentive in the right ways. Where I crushed your mother in a crucible of my own expectations I failed to give your aunt anywhere near the attention she needed." She paused.

Ranma had an inkling of where this was going. "And when you weren't looking someone got to her." She guessed. It was just the sort of thing sneaky resentful old people would do. It was practically what Happosai had done to Hinako years ago.

Her Grandmother nodded. "Make use of that insight when you get to school. It will serve you well." She said. "Your great-grand Aunt got to her. she thought that the Reformations were an insult. You must understand St. Gloriana who epitomized our old ways were in the tailend of what would prove to be a fifteen year winning streak at the Nationals. We were the undisputed Queens of Sensha-do. The other three schools hadn't managed a victory in over a decade."

"But Sensha-do isn't just about school medals." Ranma said thinking on what she had read.

Himawari nodded approvingly. "So you at least understand what you've been reading, good. Pride blinds people to the greater picture. She filled my daughter's head with tales of glory and victory. Victory that St. Gloriana hasn't tasted since the Reformation. It has come so close at times, but the gold medal has eluded them every year." She sighed deeply. "When your mother ran off your Aunt came to me. She asked me to make her the heir since your mother had disgraced the family so." She leaned forward, resting her hands on her thighs. "I came closer to giving in than I'd like to admit. Then she started talking about how your mother's failure reflected on 'the new ways of the Hayashida'. How if I'd just held to the tenants of the school none of this would have happened."

Her grandmother looked her in the face. "I am not proud of the argument that followed, but I do still believe that the Reformation has only been a good thing in the long term for Sensha-do. I threw your Aunt out of the house and she ran off to your Great-Grand Aunt's. The old hag is dead now, has been for a few years. But, your Aunt had a daughter and she is attending St. Gloriana's right now. She should be in the year above you."

Ranma blinked, then groaned. "And my Aunt is probably going to want me embarrassed or something?" She asked with dry annoyance.

"Possibly." Himawari said, "Tell me, you've shown interest over the last couple weeks in Sensha-do. Do you plan on joining the Sensha-do Club at St. Gloriana's?" Ranma frowned. "Not sure are you?"

Ranma shook her head. "I've considered it, but well… Mum and you. And it's a girl thing…" She said weakly. Behind her one of the Archers rumbled to life, its engine shaking the air even this far away. She glanced aside to see Marie sticking her head out the top and shouting at someone nearby. She looked back to see her Grandmother smiling knowingly at her. She flushed.

"Well it seems some things are simply part of the blood." Himawari said, standing up and stretching. "I will not say anything either way, other than reminding you that the government requires some form of 'feminine' activity from you." Ranma made an annoyed sound and her Grandmother nodded. "I understand, really I do. Doing piano, or calligraphy, or flower arranging was never my thing. Too quiet, too slow. Things for the delicate and willowy." She snorted then sighed. "The choice is, unlike your mothers, entirely yours."

Ranma sighed herself. "Even if you don't, it sounds like others are though." She said.

The older woman nodded. "Unfortunately true. Should you get involved I can almost guarantee your Aunt will move against you, out of spite if nothing more. She and those like her can no longer effect the Reformations. Too much time has past and they have proven far too successful in the long term. But spite ages poorly." She leaned down and pulled Ranma into a hug, which she returned hesitantly. "That's enough of this I think." She said as she pulled back after planting a kiss on Ranma's forehead. "Go to school. I'll see you during break."

Ranma flushed and nodded. "See you later Grandma." She said with her own smile before letting herself be shooed down to the cars.

As she slipped into the backseat of the Phantom V Kasumi snorted awake and blinked bearily at her. "A-aw-all doooone?" She yawned, shaking her head and wiping a line of drool off her face. "Bleh." She stuck her tongue out.

Ranma snorted. "We're done." She said and snickered as Kasumi went digging through her satchel for something to clean herself up with.

The cars got moving shortly after as the time came up to eight o'clock. As she settled herself in beside Kasumi Ranma let her mind wander back to the conversation with her grandmother. Sensha-do was her family's legacy, and she would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little bit interested. Between what she'd read and the times she'd spent in the garage there was a part of her that ached to do more. But… If she did it then she was going to make enemies, well she'd already had enemies but they'd be more likely to just ignore her if she stayed out of it. If she didn't though, if she indulged that urge to see and do more.

She bite her lip lightly as she thought, chewing on it as she thought. Beside her Kasumi had once against fallen into a doze, snoring lightly with her face plastered unflatteringly against the window. Honestly, it was nigh impossible to recognize the homemaker who would be up before Ranma and Genma making breakfast in the lazy, hyperactive teenager beside her. If she didn't know better she'd think they were different people entirely.

Then Kasumi would give one of her iconically oblivious innocent smiles. Honestly, how could she be caught red handed, and yet make you feel like you had to have the wrong person?

The trip down to the docks lasted twenty minutes. When they arrived Ranma noticed a distinct lack of giant ship. She said as much to their driver as their little convoy pulled into a line of cars.

The man in the front seat looked back. "This is Yokohama Young Miss. The School Ship Ark Royal is thirteen and a quarter kilometers bow to stern. If she tried to dock here she'd block the channel." He said.

Ranma had blinked and mouthed a small "oh" of realization. She never had actually asked how big these ships were supposed to be. She'd been picturing something like a large houseboat, maybe something the size of one of those American aircraft carriers that docked in Yokosuka. Not… that.

Minutes past and eventually the line they were on started to move forward. The line went around several large port buildings before their destination came into sight: a large ferry. The vehicles rolled onto ferry. It was a simple one level open-aired craft meant for vehicle passengers only. Through the front windows she could see men carefully directing the tanks to special parking zones where they were further secured. Evidently, their presence was considered semi-common.

The loading procedures took a few minutes then the ferry began pulling out of dock. As it did so there was a loud 'clang' as two metal objects somewhere bashed into each other. Kasumi sat up straight with a bleary, "Blawhwah?" She blinked at Ranma, who politely tried to not snicker at the new line of drool going down her friend's face.

"You have, here." She pointed at her own face and Kasumi sleepily mirrored her, feeling the spot on her own cheek only to grimace and pull a cloth from her satchel again with a muttered groan of disgust.

"Where are we?" Kasumi asked as she started to get her brain in gear again.

"On the ferry to the ship." Ranma replied.

Kasumi blinked at her. "Ferry? I thought we were going to drive onto the ship when it docked?" She asked confused.

"Can't do that Miss Tendo." Their driver said, "Thirteen and a quarter kilometer long vessel can't fit properly into the Yokohama harbour. Even if you could get it to the dock it'd block the entire channel."

Kasumi blinked. "I didn't think it was that big." She said to Ranma, who shrugged.

"I hope neither of you ladies plans on falling back asleep yet." Their driver said, "It's quite a sight and it won't take too long to get there."

"I think I can stay awake." Kasumi said, sharing at look with Ranma. Neither of them wanted to miss seeing the ship.

The ship, as it turned out, was anchored in Sagami Bay since it couldn't actually sail up the channel without ruining shipping. The trip around Yokosuka took most of an hour, time they spent playing with one of their latest acquisitions. Cell phones. Michiru had gotten them both a personal cell phone the day before in a sudden last minute trip.

As far as Ranma could tell it did a lot of things other than make phone calls. And she wasn't entirely sure it made those at all.

Finally, their ship turned the corner around the peninsula and there it was on the horizon. Gleaming in the morning sun was a wall of metal nearly half as tall as Tokyo Tower that stretched across what felt like half the bay.

"Ladies." Their driver said, gesturing out the front window as they stared at the distance ship that just kept getting bigger, both of them gawking at the single largest man made object either of them had seen. "The JSS Ark Royal. St. Gloriana. Your new home for the rest of the year."

-0-0-0-0-0-

A/N: Oooh boy. This one is a bit late *sheepish kitsune* I'm so sorry about getting distracted with all the ideas in my drabbles thread. I'll try not to get so distracted in the future. No promises though, my weakness is- ooh shiny~ *Kitsune Playing with Sparkly Ball*


	4. Chapter Four: School on the Sea

"**The Decimation of the High Schools**

With the decree of the New Engine Standards, Bulkhead Act, and Ammunition Safety Regulations amongst the other measures of the 1993 Reformation it fell to the men and women of the various Sensha-do teams to implement the decrees and upgrade their tanks to the new standards of the Sensha-do Federation. This would prove to be a costly and time-consuming process that required nearly stripping entire tanks down to their treads in order to apply all of the upgrades required to permit the vehicles to be used in the upcoming National Tournament that summer.

Speed, low cost, quality. It is said that you can only pick two of these when dealing with anything involving vehicles such as the Tanks on which Sensha-do teams relied. With the summer tournament just around the corner, many teams were forced to compromise on one or the other of this trifecta. Yet even when teams decided to seek lower costs either at the cost of speed or quality prices for the new parts required by the federation were, for many schools, utterly prohibitive due to the low supply of these parts many of which had only been greenlit for production weeks or even days before the decrees were issued.

For many smaller schools, they were unable to find the funds to upgrade their vehicles to the new standards and shut down their programs until funds could be raised to upgrade the vehicles to the new standards. Of those schools who shut down one in five would never again reopen their Sensha-do programs.

Previous giants in the field such as Oarai, Anzio, and Jutland have remained shuttered even at the time of this writing with Oarai, in particular, having sold off the entirety of its formerly all-star collection of vehicles.[88]

In total, one in ten of all schools shut down their programs and have remained shut to this day, and those who did reopen have shown numbers of participants far lower than previous numbers. It is only the higher turnouts among audiences and the slow uptick in participation over the years that has prevented many from condemning the Reformation as an entirely ill-considered action." ~ A Reflection on the Sensha-do Reformation of 1993, By Totoro Nishimura; Circa 2008

-0-0-0-0-0-

With Grace and Elegance

A Girls Und Panzer/Ranma ½ Crossover

Chapter Four

School on the Sea

By: Grounders10

-0-0-0-0-0-

The ferry slipped into the dock in the bowels of the colossal school ship an hour after the vessel had come into view. The slip where the ferry docked was halfway along the port side of the vessel. Ranma could tell that the dock was intended to be enclosed while moving from the gates large enough to allow cargo ships through that were being held up and away by hydraulic arms the size of several school buses strapped together. On approach she had spotted several more like it in the side of the ship, including one that had a cargo ship being escorted inside by several tugs.

As the ferry reached the dock several hydraulic arms reached down and clamped onto the vessel, holding it in place as ropes were tossed down and the ferry was tied tightly to the pier. Only then was the ramp dropped and the first cars began to drive off the ferry.

Their driver glanced back at them. "You should strap yourselves back in ladies. Rules of the road are the same here as back on land." He said.

Both of them followed the instructions, sliding back into their seats and buckling up. A few minutes passed before it was their turn and the car smoothly accelerated off the ferry. The car bounced as it drove onto the school ship. The docks were wide and deep, though once beyond the outer hundred feet the height dropped sharply to about the height of a three story building and continued to drop as they followed the paved road towards the exit from the docks.

The way out of the docks was a four lane road, two coming in and two going out, that passed from the spacious dockyard through an archway of red brick into a fairly high ceilinged tunnel whose walls and ceiling made of more red bricks. Lights in the style of victorian street lamps lit the roads with bright orangish light from where they hung on the walls and stood between the opposing lanes. Signs hanging from the walls announced the locations of food, lodging, toilets, and even gas stations.

The road curved as it went inward and split into several turning lanes. Signs hanging above the road proclaimed them to lead to 'Aft Interchange', 'Gaslight District' and 'Deck 14 Throughway'.

As they turned onto the next road, following the sign for the interchange, the place seemed to come alive. The ceiling lifted up another two stories and along the sides of the road were cobbled sidewalks lit by more victorian street lamps. Stores lined both sides of the roadway and Ranma could spot small alleyways barely big enough for a truck that led off between the stores. Walkways of steel crossed above the street and she could see a few people stopping to watch the traffic for a few moments before moving on.

The stores and offices continued for a bit, but after a few stoplights the road reached its end and let out into a far larger room. A sign hanging over the road informed them they were 'Entering Aft Interchange'. Ranma and Kasumi both pressed against their windows trying to get a better look as they waited at the stoplight.

"Oh, oh wow." Kasumi said softly.

"It's… big." Ranma said.

Their car had turned onto a road leading up and around the outside edge of a vast cylindrical room that passed through every level of the vessel, from the depths below all the way to the top where a skylight formed the ceiling. On every level roads crisscrossed the empty space in a tangled web that, this far down, neatly blocked most of the sunlight from above. Large tv screens and billboards advertising hotels, movies, and the latest electronic gadget hung from the walls, lighting up the interchange in a da zzling display of technicolour lighting.

As they passed through the levels, their car circling the edge of the interchange, the style of the bridges slowly changed, from red brick and mortar to white painted steel and concrete walkways. The signs grew less frequent, though no smaller than before. Windows appeared in the walls of the interchange, though the glass was the distinctive reflective surface of one way mirrors.

Through it all walked thousands of people along the sidewalks headed in as many directions. On the roads beside them there were buses and taxis, garbage trucks and sportscars and so many other vehicles. Ranma spotted an ambulance crossing one of the spans below and a firetruck, sirens blaring, forced them to the side of the road as it sped up a level passed them.

"This place is so much larger than I thought it was going to be." Kasumi said as she leaned against the window.

"No kidding… I thought this was just a school ship?" Ranma asked the driver.

The man chuckled. "The Ark Royal is host to St. Gloriana's but it isn't the only thing it does."

Ranma nodded, then blinked as she spotted a large stretch of glass wall holding back water on the far side of the interchange. "Is- is that an Aquarium?" She asked.

"Deck 48 Ark Royal Aquarium. Nice place. I'd suggest making a trip at some point." He said.

Their ascent continued, around and around and around the interchange. After a bit more Ranma looked away, the constant spinning was making her dizzy. Closing her eyes she leaned back into her seat, and tried to pretend she couldn't feel the constant pressure from the slow turn. It wasn't even a minute before Kasumi spotted something.

"Ranma," The other girl said, tapping her on the shoulder. "Look."

"Hmm?" Ranma opened her eyes and followed Kasumi's finger to a dark blue bus with white lettering on the side announcing 'St. Gloriana's Boys Naval College'. "Boys Naval College?" She read aloud. "I thought St. Gloriana's was a girl's school."

"The Campus you're attending is." Their driver said, "You'll be attending the deckside campus of St. Gloriana's Girls College. Very expensive and very exclusive."

"Different campuses? How many are there?" Kasumi asked.

The driver shrugged. "Not sure. St. Gloriana's is responsible for all of the schools on the ship. You've got the ones for the locals, then you've got the big ones for students from off ship. The one the ship is famous for is the campus you'll be going to, it covers a good third of the top deck." The two girls exchanged a look. This was a lot bigger than they expected.

It was still a sunny day when their vehicle rolled out of the off-ramp beside the skylight onto the topside of the ship. The interchange let out into a traffic circle. The side towards the bow of the ship, judging by the direction of the command tower which loomed over everything from the starboard side, were homes and stores while the section towards the aft was fenced off except for a four lane road for the airport. As Ranma watched a 747 commercial airliner with the large red letters JAL on the tailfin roared down the runaway and into the air.

The car took a right onto the road running down the length of the vessel and stayed on it, passing homes and stores for several blocks before everything on the right hand side gave way to grassy parklands and large marble Victorian-styled buildings mixed with a few small parking lots. A large pond took up the center of the large plot, which stretched from the road to the edge of the vessel, and in the center of that pond was an island with a beautiful manor house painted in blue, gold, and silver. A wooden bridge led across the pond to it and a wrought iron fence eight feet high circled the manor and its gardens. Even from the road Ranma could see a manned guard hut on the bridge.

"St. Gloriana's Girls College." Their driver said, nodding to the campus. "Absolutely beautiful. This is where you'll be attending when class starts."

"Ooh, I can't wait Ranma." Kasumi said, holding her phone up to take a few pictures are they sped by.

"You know you'll get a better angle tomorrow." Ranma sighed as she leaned over Kasumi's shoulder. The school's parkland had a few people walking the paths and even a couple sitting at a cluster of tables. Busier than she would have expected for a school before classes began.

The other girl shrugged. "Not going to get another chance at seeing it for the first time, though." She said. Ranma shrugged and sat back in her seat as the car passed the school and continued on.

"Just a bit left to go." Their driver said, tapping on the tablet that had been set up on the dashboard. There was the sound of a phone ringing and a moment later a woman's voice answered.

"I was starting to wonder where you were." The woman said sharply.

"Traffic was heavy." Their driver replied.

"It always is. How far out are you?" She asked.

"Five minutes, possibly less." He replied.

She said something unflattering. "You know to call sooner. We'll be waiting." The call hung up with a final click.

"Charming." Ranma said dryly.

"We have a history miss. My apologies if that came off too informal." He said as the car turned a corner onto a street lined with three story townhouses. Ranma shrugged, she personally didn't care for the formality, but it was something that she would be expected to expect. Rather than reply she looked out the window at the homes. It was a rather nice area with most of the buildings being in the same white marble and wrought iron style as the school. Parks were frequently interspersed between blocks of homes, though many were fenced off with the only ways in being the back doors of blocks of townhouses.

Eventually they pulled onto another street. Immediately Ranma could see the net worth of the owners jump from the previous street. The homes weren't townhouses crammed together in an effort to stuff as many people into as little space but large three story homes, six homes to each side of the street with small yards to the front and sides with a red brick and wrought iron fence separating them from the street. Wrought iron gates, most of which were closed, stood at the end of the front footpath.

Halfway down the street on the left hand side was a home with a large blue Matilda Tank painted above the doorway. Around the entranceway, painted on the wall, were vines with pink roses that arched up and beneath the tank. Outside the building were a few people assembled in a line on either side of the gate. A short bob-cut grey-haired woman wearing the same style of dress as Michiru stood in between the two lines in the center of the footpath.

Their car came to a smooth stop on the curb in front of the house. Ranma reached for the door handle, then stopped. With an irritated sigh she let her hand drop as she waited for their driver to get out first and let her out. It was one of those annoying little things that had been drilled into her during her lessons on etiquette. Never let yourself out, wait for the driver to let you out. Apparently it had started as a protection thing and eventually turned into another bit of etiquette. For most people the protection bit would have at least held some weight still.

For Ranma it was just annoying.

The driver popped open the door and stood aside. "Young Miss, we have arrived." He said, bowing slightly.

Grumbling internally, Ranma stepped out of the car as, on the other side, Kasumi hopped out as well and quickly hurried around the car to join her.

The woman in the center of the line walked forward to greet them. "Miss Ranma?" The older woman asked, stopping a few feet away.

"Yes?" Ranma replied.

The older woman smiled. "Tsuya Homura, The Butler, here at Matilda House. I am pleased to finally meet you." She said, bowing deeply.

Behind her the maids, cooks and others bowed. "Welcome to Matilda House, Miss Ranma." They chorused.

Ranma stared at them, surprised at the synchronous greeting. "Um, thank you." She said after a moment.

Tsuya stood straight and looked to Kasumi. "Miss Tendo I assume?" She asked.

"Yes." Kasumi bowed to her, "Kasumi Tendo. I am pleased to meet you Mrs Homura."

Tsuya smiled. "Welcome, both of you, to Matilda House. The home away from home for everyone of the Hayashida family attending St. Gloriana's." She said.

"Thank you, Miss Homura." Ranma said, remembering her lessons. "Shall we?" She asked, gesturing to the door.

"Of course. Ladies, please bring the young misses things up to her rooms." Tsuya ordered the maids. As they moved towards the car their driver quickly walked around to the trunk. As he passed Tsuya the older woman's eyes narrowed and she snagged his arm. "You on the other hand are late. Get the car into the parkade then meet me in my office." She said, getting a grimace and a 'yes ma'am' from him.

That done she turned back to Ranma and smiled. "This way, young miss." She said, leading the way into the house.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Matilda House, as Tsuya had introduced the home, was a three story Victorian-style home with a two story addition on the starboard side. The name Ranma recognized from the British tank of the same name, a vehicle that was particularly popular with St. Gloriana's Sensha-do team. It was immediately apparent, from the moment she walked through the front door, just how appropriate the name was.

The front entrance was a fair sized room with a hall leading further in, a door to the dining room on the right, and another leading to a much larger room with coffee tables, couches, at least one very large TV and several desks with computers. A door in the back of the room apparently led to an exercise room of some kind.

It would probably never get used.

Stairs leading to the second floor were in the entrance hall with another set of stairs that Tsuya said led into the second floor guest quarters.

It was all in the same conversative style as the mansion had been, and every inch was covered in _something_ involving tanks. Pictures and paintings of tanks blasting across deserts and dueling in towns hung from the walls, busts of tank turrets sat in corners, the ends of the banisters were scale models of matilda tanks, and even the rug in the entrance hall had a beautifully sewn image of a churchill tank rolling up a mountain under fire. There was even a miniature matilda tank chassis without a turret being used as a vase on the dining room table.

"There are a lot of tanks." Kasumi whispered to her as the maids walked passed them and up the staircase with their bags. Outside the car could be heard starting back up before pulling away from the curb.

"Yeah…" Ranma frowned at a smaller picture hanging beside the door to the dining room of a group of matilda's with the tea kettle and cup motif on their turrets fighting in a forest. Whoever had taken the picture had managed to get the timing just right so that the muzzle flash of the center tank had been captured.

Honestly, a few pictures, or even a lot if she thought about it, wouldn't have been too bad if they'd been mixed in with some ordinary landscapes or pictures of people. Or if everything else hadn't also been a tank. She had thought she understood how important sensha-do was to her family, but this was a bit much.

"Excuse me, Miss Ranma." Tsuya said from by the stairs. "If we could continue the tour?"

"Of course." Ranma followed the Butler up the stairs, Kasumi on her heels.

The second floor was just as tank obsessed as the first floor with a large brass statue of a matilda tank on display in a sitting room by the kitchenette. The rest of the space was taken up by six fairly large, though nothing on what Rama's had been at the mansion, bedroom suites. This setup was apparently mirrored on the second floor of the guest wing, though with a small sitting room and smaller bedrooms.

When they stepped off the stairs on the third floor Ranma had to sigh with relief at the distinct absence of nearly anything tank related. The bannisters were still decorated with tank turrets, and there was a large painting of a churchill on the wall across from the stairs, but other than that it seemed remarkably barren.

Actually… Ranma tilted her head to the side as she turned on the spot. Other than the furniture and the single painting at the top the walls were bare and there wasn't a single bust of a tank or weirdly shaped vase.

"I am sure you have noticed the lack of decoration young miss." Tsuya said as they stepped aside to allow a couple of maids to scurry downstairs.

"It's a little barren compared to downstairs." Ranma said, getting a nod from Kasumi.

"Your grandmother ordered the decorations taken down before you arrived. She felt that you would find them perhaps a touch oppressive. Much like your mother did when she lived here." The old woman said with a melancholic smile.

Ranma glanced about the landing. To the right an open door led into a small dining room. Another door, closed this time, beside the painting of the churchill was closed. A small crystal chandelier hung over the stairs. A hallway ran left down the length of the building until it hit the end where a window let sunlight into the hallway.

"As per tradition," Tsuya continued, "the decoration of Matilda House falls to the Heiress."

Ranma considered that. "So my mother is the reason everything looks so…?" She gestured downstairs.

Tsuya chuckled. "As I am sure you are aware your mother has a tendency to be quite stubborn about things. Even with herself." She said.

"Oh dear." Kasumi sighed from where she was standing by the churchill painting. "She thought she needed to show her enthusiasm then?"

"I can only guess what her thoughts on the matter were Miss Tendo. I am a butler, not a mind reader. And even if I were such things would remain within the family." Tsuya said politely, "Now, let me show you to your bedroom Young Miss. This way please." She strode off down the hall. The two girls followed, peeking into the open doors as they went.

On the left they passed a sitting room, and then what appeared to be a tea room right after it. On the right they passed a small kitchenette with a single table and another door with a golden book shaped sign hanging near the top.

It was near the end of the hallway on the right that they reached an open door leading into a bedroom. The room was large, though not as big as Ranma's back at the mansion it was still the largest bedroom in the house. A large four poster bed with soft pink sheets and curtains sat at the far end. A walk in closet, through which she could see the tiles of a bathroom stood to the left side of the bed. She could see a couple maids unpacking her bags into the closet.

There was a small table with a couple of heavily padded chairs by one of the windows, a short bookcase across the way, and a writing desk in the corner with another bookshelf above it.

It was the walls that drew Ranma's attention. Like the third floor hallway, the walls were barren of any form of decoration. No paintings, no pictures, just wood paneling and a dark floral wallpaper. She could see a few lighter spots where a painting or picture had been.

"Your bedroom Young Miss." Tsuya said with a small bow.

"It's nice." Ranma said, stepping up to one of the windows. It looked out over their backyard and into a small park that sat behind the homes on this block. A small waist-high hedge ran along the property line between the house and the park. She flipped open the latch and pushed the windows open, letting in a cool breeze that ruffled her hair.

"Matilda House is located on the bow edge of the topdeck." Tsuya said, peering over her shoulder. "The park behind the homes here is common property with the rest of the homes on our side of the street."

Ranma nodded, leaning a bit out the window to look about. The park was forested with small tiled paths running into the treeline from the back gates of each house. In the backyard beside them she spotted a girl with black hair pulled up into twintails reading a book in a lounge chair. A cup of tea and a teapot rested on the side table beside her. The girl paused in her reading and picked up her cup raising it to her lips, in the process, spotting Ranma hanging out of her window. They stared at each other for a moment before, on impulse, Ranma waved to her. The girl raised her teacup in reply before taking a sip and going back to her book.

"Who is that?" Ranma asked.

"Who?" Tsuya leaned to the side. "Oh, That would be Rin Kibe, her family owns the largest companies responsible for bringing food onto the ship, amongst other things. She is a well behaved girl, about your age I believe."

"So we might see her at school then?" Kasumi asked, elbowing Ranma in the shoulder as she leaned out the window herself.

"Possibly. It depends on what your grades were. St. Gloriana's Girls College sorts classes by their average grades. If your grades are similar than you may find yourselves in her class." The older woman said, "Now, on the topic of school. Did Mrs. Oto inform you of the schedule for tomorrow?"

Both Ranma and Kasumi shook their heads no. "She said the staff here would tell us." Ranma said.

"As I expected. That has traditionally been the job of the Matilda House Butler. You have your uniforms and materials at least, yes?" Tsuya asked. Seeing their nods she smiled. "Good. Then please follow me and we will go over what shall happen tomorrow." She turned and walked slowly out of the room.

Kasumi followed quickly, but Ranma spared a glance out the window at the park. A breeze ruffled her hair and carried the scent of flowers to her. She sighed and turned away, brushing a loose lock of hair back over her ear. As much as it would be nice to just take a few minutes and relax she could do that later. Maybe out in the back garden? They had to have something out there for enjoying the weather.

Deciding that lounging in the sunlight sounded like a wonderful idea she put it aside for the moment and followed Kasumi and Mrs. Homura out of the room.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Later that night Ranma was lying on her bed, flipping through the book '_Tiger, Elephants, and Mauses, Oh My'_. The book was a guide to the heaviest tanks and tank destroyers legal for use in Sensha-do and included significant analysis of their greatest successes and failures since the reformation. The Book was filled with enough technical terms that Ranma had filled a dozen pages of the notepad next to her with a list that she'd need to look up later. Despite the use of words she lacked context for she was finding it rather interesting in the same way she would find discussions of ancient battles for history class.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Come in." She said, looking up from her book.

Tsuya walked into the room, a small silver box in her hands. "Good evening Young Miss." She said, bowing slightly. "How are you this evening?"

Ranma marked her page and set the book down on her pillow. "Fine, something wrong?" She asked, wondering what was in the box. She had her books, office supplies, and even her uniform. She was of mixed feelings regarding the uniform. On one hand it had a rather conservative blue sweater with a white blouse and darker blue necktie. On the other hand it required pantyhose and a rather short skirt. She could never think of pantyhose and not think of that arrogant bastard Taro.

So what was in the box?

Tsuya shut the door behind her and crossed the room to Ranma's bed. "Nothing is wrong, there is something that you need to have before school tomorrow." Settling on the side of the bed she pulled an envelope from a pocket. "From your Grandmother." She said.

Scooting over to sit beside the older woman Ranma accepted it, popped the wax seal on the envelope and pulling out the letter within. Unfolding the paper she noted that it had been written entirely by hand. Her Grandmother's calligraphy was a lot better than her own.

_Dear Granddaughter,_

_There are some traditions which cannot be ignored, regardless of how we may feel about them. Inside the box that Tsuya should have brought with this letter are several necklaces and the earrings that belong with them. All of them belonged to previous Heiresses of the Hayashida family. Each one was, in its period, worn as a sign that its bearer was the Heiress of our family._

_Normally I would be there when you receive this, in fact I would be the one to give it to you. However, there are matters I cannot leave unattended at the moment and the box was stored at Matilda House after your mother ran off and left them there. Tsuya has served our family for years and knows the history behind each piece, which I do expect you to learn. This is our history after all._

Ranma frowned at that. Another thing to learn.

_As the Heiress of the Hayashida family you will be expected to wear the current token of the Heiress, Tsuya knows which one it is, when attending school or public events. While I'm sure your mother will be annoyed with me this is one of those things that cannot be avoided. There are expectations for our position after all._

_I am sorry I could not be there to deliver this to you, but the world rarely waits for when we have time. Enjoy your first day of school, and good luck Granddaughter._

_Sincerely,_

_Himawari Hayashida_

_Grandmaster of the Hayashida_

Letting the letter rest on her thigh her looked ot Tsuya. "Can I see it?" She asked.

"Of course." Tsuya handed over the box. It was a small silver box, about a quarter the size of a shoe box, with delicate filigree of gold. The lid flipped back on a hinge as she opened it. The insides were well organized with small compartments on the right with rods around which the simpler necklaces were coiled. On the left, and taking up most of the box, were slots were the jeweled necklaces laid. Only the one on the far left was empty.

"The ones on the right," Tsuya began, "are older than the rest." She pointed to a somewhat rough looking braided silver necklace. "This was the first."

Ranma fished it out. It was clearly old, the silver braids were crude and quite simple. "How old is it?" She asked.

"Only six hundred years, there were a couple earlier ones, but they were lost with the original family home during the firebombings." Tsuya said, leaning over her shoulder to point at the next. "It was replaced by this one after the Hayashida Family was raised from merchants to Samurai."

Ranma replaced the silver necklace and lifted out the one Tsuya was pointing to. It was of much finer work than the previous one, though still silver except for a single strand of gold that had been woven through it.

So it went for over an hour as Tsuya explained to her the history of the thirteen different necklaces that were in the box. Or as much as they had time for that night. As they at last reached the last necklace Tsuya paused.

"This is the current necklace of the Heiress." The old woman said after a moment as Ranma carefully lifted it out of its slot. "It replaced the previous one worn by your Great Grandmother when your Grandmother began attending St. Gloriana's. She was the first to attend the School in the early seventies, once it moved from land to a school ship. This was meant to be a new era, though I don't believe anyone realized quite how far she would take that. My, the nineties were quite exciting."

Ranma turned the necklace over in her hands. It was made from gold, the chain intricately braided together. From it hung several smaller chains of gold on which sat several disc-shapes pendants of gold with many small sapphires mounted in circles around large rubies.

Tsuya lifted the slot it had been in out and removed two earrings with blue sapphires hanging from gold chains. "The blue of the sea, and the eyes of that are so common amongst the Hayashida." Tsuya said, pointing to the sapphires on both the necklace and earrings, "and the Rubies, though not the same shade they are meant to be reminiscent of the hair colour all Hayashida women have."

The redhead ran one hand through her hair as she toyed with the necklace in her other hand. "This was my mother's as well." She asked. It was a beautiful necklace and Ranma would be lying if she claimed that there wasn't a part of her that enjoyed dressing up a bit. Or a lot, come to think of it. Sure she had practically no experience with it, but dressing up on occasion had always been rather fun…

Unless it was being done to her by Nabiki and Kasumi. Come to think of it she still owed both of them for stuffing her in those outfits.

"It was." Tsuya confirmed, "She left it here along with everything else when she took off." She frowned, a truly sour expression on her face. There was little doubt what she thought of that decision.

Carefully pretending to not notice the turn in mood Ranma handed the jewelry box back to Tsuya she unlatched the clasp on the necklace and put it on. She had to brush aside her braid as she snapped the latch shut before accepting the earrings and carefully, as it had been quite a while since she last had to wear earrings, fastened them into her ears. Standing she walked over to the nearby full length mirror, Tsuya closed up the box and followed her.

Standing there, dressed in her recently acquired pajamas, she ran a hand across the necklace. It felt strange, to be wearing jewelry at all. She could almost hear her father's annoyed condemnation of those men they came across who wore earrings. More than once they had encountered a gangster or Yakuza who wore an earring in their ear. The endings of those fights always left Ranma with a lingering ringing in his ears from the ranting about how dangerous jewelry, especially _earrings,_ were to wear in a fight.

Honestly, Ranma hadn't seen the point. She had been in more than a few fights with people wearing jewelry, including herself on a few occasions, and there had never once been an issue. Most people would prefer to punch you in the face rather than rip your earring out of your ear.

"Well Young Miss, what do you think?" Tsuya asked, looming behind her.

"It's…" Ranma looked down at the necklace and held it up to look at closely. "I don't normally wearing jewelry." She admitted.

"Your Grandmother informed me you were something of a tomboy." Tsuya said, nodding.

Ranma glanced at her in the mirror. "Is that all she said?" She asked.

"I know there is soap you must use everyday. She offered some interesting evidence about why." Her butler informed her.

"Hrm.." Ranma frowned and toyed with one of the disc-shaped pendants, holding it up beside her braid beside the earring on that side. "Then you know that tomboy is a bit of an understatement."

"Is it? Young Miss, I have seen men who are more feminine than most girls and girls who are easily mistaken for men." Tsuya said firmly, "I have yet to see where you fall on that line, but I think we both know you wouldn't be standing there comparing the colouring of a necklace to your hair if you minded it that much."

Ranma let go of the necklace like it was on fire and blushed a brilliant red. Behind her the older woman nodded. "My point is made. Now, do you like it Young MIss?" She asked again.

Not trusting her voice she nodded. "Yeah…" She admitted.

"Excellent, since whether you liked it or not, you are expected to wear it to school and social events." Tsuya said nodding firmly before holding out the box, lid open. "Now if you don't mind, I believe you should have been lights out thirty minutes ago."

The necklace and earrings went back in the box and the box went onto the vanity before Tsuya excused herself and Ranma found her way back to bed, face still burning a bit. It took a while before she got to sleep.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Their car pulled into the parking lot of St. Gloriana's Girls College at eight ten am the next morning. Ranma nodded to the driver as he let opened the door fo her, slipping her book bag over her shoulder as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. Kasumi bounced out of the other side of the car with a yawn.

"Ugh," Kasumi groaned, "I-I-" She yawned again, stretching as she did. "Oh, god I forgot how much it sucked to get up for school." Letting her hands fall she adjusted the blue sweater of the uniform she was wearing.

Ranma rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad." She said, idly toying with her necklace. It still felt strange to wear a necklace to school without some scheme or wacky series of events.

"Have a good day Young Miss." Their driver said, getting back into the car.

"You to Mr. Furuta." Ranma said, waving to their driver. The man tipped his hat to them

"See you at the end of the day Young Miss." He said, rolling up his window. A moment later the car signalled and pulled out into the road, sliding easily in front of a red honda.

Ranma watched the car disappear around the corner before turning back to Kasumi. "So, where to now?" She asked the other girl.

"W-well," Kasumi stifled a yawn as she pulled out her phone. "Give me a second." She fiddled with the device for a few seconds before another car pulled up. Taking her by the shoulder Ranma pulled Kasumi away from the curb. The vehicle disgorged a couple of chattering girls a couple years older than them, one of them, a girl with pink hair, gesticulated wildly about something. Ranma was fairly sure she heard the words 'run them off the road' at least once.

They found a spot on a bench under a small oak by one of the footpaths to sit. "Okay." Kasumi said after a couple minutes, "We are… Where exactly?"

Ranma rolled her eyes. "The front parking lot." She said dryly.

Kasumi shot her a look and sighed. "There we go." She said finally, "Okay we are here." She showed Ranma the phone, pointing at a blue dot on the map of the campus. "We need to be here." She said, pointing to a building off to their right.

"Not far." Ranma commented, digging out her own phone. A few taps brought up the map program that they had come with the attendance information handouts that Tsuya had shared with them that morning. "It was the Auditorium right?" She asked as it booted up.

"Yep. Which would be down… that path I think?" Kasumi pointed to their right down a path that disappeared between a copse of trees and some tall hedgerows.

Glancing down at her phone Ranma nodded. "Looks like it. Come on." There was plenty of time before the assembly, but that only meant being late would probably look worse. The two of them hurried across the plaza to the path.

The moment they passed into the hedge lined walkway it took an immediate turn to the left, then the right and once they were around the corner the sound from the road seemingly disappeared. Not that the walkway was quiet. There were a lot of students flowing in from the drop-off and the air buzzed with dozens of conversations.

The hedges eventually shrank down to just a bit higher than Ranma as they walked. "There are so many flowerbeds." Kasumi said as they passed another gap in the hedgerow.

Ranma shrugged. "It's a fancy school." She said, thinking back to her family's manion. The grounds were immaculate gardens with flower beds everywhere. That a school for the rich was equally as prolific with its flower beds didn't surprise her in the least.

Kasumi sighed. "More than just fancy Ranma." She chided, stopping to take a picture as they passed another gap in the hedgerow.

The redhead rolled her eyes at her friend and waited patiently as Kasumi snapped a few pictures. The brunette hummed as she checked the pictures on her phone before walking over to join Ranma without looking up. "Okay, lets go." She said.

What should have been a couple minutes walk took much longer as they stopped a few times so that Kasumi could snap pictures of flowers, trees, a bench, and a picture of several girls fussing over a corgi. At that point Ranma looped her arm through Kasumi's and dragged her down the street.

"Ranma!" Kasumi complained as she tried to dig her heels in.

"We're going to be late if you keep this up." Ranma said.

"It's only a few pictures. We've got a half hour at least before we'd have to rush." Kasumi grumbled, finally walking beside Ranma as she slipped her phone into her bag. "Meanie." She pouted.

Eventually the hedgerows on either side disappeared as they entered an area with what looked to be small european homes surrounded by flower beds. "Homes?" Kasumi said, "Why are their homes here?"

"Might be for staff I guess." Ranma said, "I bet even the best paid teacher would have issues finding a place around here." Tokyo had ridiculous housing prices at times, a ship with no ability to expand housing had to be even worse.

"Maybe." Kasumi shrugged, then dug out her phone again.

"Really?" Ranma sighed as the Kasumi snapped a couple photos.

"Yes really." Kasumi said, checking the photo on her phone before dropping it in her bag. "Let's go~" Humming she practically skipped down the path, drawing a few glances as Ranma followed her.

Eventually the path, after winding around a couple more houses, emptied out into another plaza. In the center of the plaza was a fountain with a statue of a woman in an elaborate eighteenth century dress with the smiling greek comedy mask held up to her face. Standing at her back was a man, dressed in clothing from the same period, with one hand held up to the sky while the other held the sad Greek tragedy mask up to his face. Water sprayed from the mouths of the statues into the pool below.

Storefronts ringed the plaza including several cafes, a restaurant, and a school supply store. Groups of students were enjoying tea and snacks at the tables out front of the cafes while others simply walked passed towards the six story building that made up one entire side of the plaza.

That, Ranma assumed, was the auditorium. It had the look of a theatre or opera house from england anyway with heavy wood doors flanked by white marble stonework on either side and a half-circle glass window above the doorway. Posters of upcoming events, including a performance of hamlet the by local theatre club, could be seen hanging in the first floor windows.

Ranma and Kasumi ignored the cafes and shops, and headed straight for the for the door. They quickly climbed the stone steps that led up to the doors that had been left propped open so that the hundreds of students could easily enter the building. What must have been one of the teachers, a greying woman who stood head and shoulders above most of the teens flooding into the room.

"Welcome girls, this way!" She called, gesturing to the stairs behind her. "First years, to the right, take the entrance at the end. Second years, turn left. Same thing. Third years, up the stairs and straight ahead. Make sure to get your hand outs from the professors. This way girls…"

Following their instructions they went with the flow and walked up the stairs. As they climbed Ranma looked around. The bottom floor had dark hardwood floors while the walls were papered in a Royal blue wallpaper with gold flowers. Wood paneling ran along the baseboard. Pictures, all labeled, hung from the walls showing past students and school teams. A lot of them featured the school's Sensha-do Team and their tanks.

Cresting the stairs onto the second floor landing they turned right down a hallway with the same wallpaper with white carpet. The walls were lined with trophy cabinets and at the far end were two sets of steel fire doors, currently held open by teachers who were taking names and giving directions to the girls as they entered.

Taking a moment Ranma stopped at one of the cabinets. Inside was a golden trophy of a mark VI tank, a picture of that year's Sensha-do team, and a plaque with the names and positions of each member of the team. She walked along the row, each cabinet held two or three such trophies. Six cabinets down she stopped as she spotted something right at the top of the roll of names.

'Himawari Hayashida - Team Captain'

It was the trophy for the 1972 Sensha-do nationals and she could see a much younger version of her Grandmother standing with St. Gloriana's flag in the center of the team photograph. Her grin was wide as she held the flag high despite the two girls on either side of her practically hanging off her arms. Behind the team was a churchill and several Matildas. A crusader just barely peeking into the right corner of the picture.

She looked like she couldn't possibly be happier.

"Ranma?" Kasumi tapped her on the shoulder.

Ranma turned back to Kasumi. "Yes?" She asked.

"Coming?" Kasumi asked, gesturing with her phone to the line that was slowly backing up the corridor.

"Oh, right." She spared one more second on the award before hurrying after Kasumi.

It took them ten minutes to make their way up the line, but eventually they reached the leftmost set of double doors. The teacher, a balding man, checked their IDs against the list on the tablet he had. "Miss Saotome and Miss Tendo. Welcome to the school." He said with a smile. "For the two of you… Box 421. Take the elevator on the right up three floors and follow the hall around to the right."

"Box?" Ranma asked. This was an assembly wasn't it? Why would she be getting a box?

"Only the best for the Heiress of the Hayashida family." The teacher said, ushering them both through. "Make sure you grab the handouts on the table to the left."

"Box?" Ranma repeated to Kasumi, who shrugged as they gathered the handouts, a pair of thick stacks of stapled together paper, and stepped into an opulently appointed hallway. They hurried down the hall to the elevator and joined a few older students who were headed up. They earned a few curious looks as they stayed on even after the last of the other students got off on the floor before their stop. They hadn't even made it to class and they were already attracting attention.

The hallway on the fourth floor of the auditorium, what would have been the fifth floor of the building, was oddly enough less obviously opulent than the first floor. The decor was more understated and reserved, showing wealth without being obviously decadent.

Waiting for them as the elevator doors slid open was a tall woman in a precisely tailored black suit. A small brass name tag announced her as 'Naomi Watanabe'. "ID please." She asked politely, looking at them expectantly over the top of her frameless glasses. Ranma produced hers from within her sleeve to a bemused look from the woman while Kasumi fiddled with her bag.

"Welcome Miss Saotome, and Miss Tendo." She said once Kasumi had pulled her ID out. "Your booth is prepared and we are ready to take any requests you have. Please hurry, there remains only a few minutes before we begin." She gestured down the corridor to the right.

Thanking her they hurried along, passing the doors of boxes 416 through 420 at not quite a jog before slowing to a sedate walk as they reached box 421. Like the rest it was a heavy looking wooden door with a wrought iron handle.

Exchanging questioning looks they walked over and Ranma opened the door, stepping out onto a balcony. The box was decorated much like the hallway outside, darker colours and high quality furniture without being obviously opulent. A small table with two plush armchairs sat by the railing. On the table was a mounted tablet, its display lit up with the words 'Welcome Miss Saotome' in blue.

Closing the door behind them they sat down in the chairs, dropping their bags beside them. Ranma tossed her stack of handouts onto the table, they slid across to hang just off the edge.

"Well," Kasumi sighed looking about. She leaned forward to look over the edge of the box. "This is not what I was expecting."

Ranma snickered. "Well we're not in Furinkan anymore." She said with a grin. Kasumi snorted.

"That was obvious a while back." The brunette said dryly.

Grabbing the tablet's Ranma found its cables were long enough to lift it several feet from its cradle without unplugging it. She tapped the greeting on the screen and a small jingle played before St. Gloriana's coat of arms appeared on screen, the teapot pouring tea into the teacup before settling down behind it. Then the screen folded away to reveal a menu with the options: '_Snacks'_, '_Tea and other Drinks'_, and '_Breakfast'_. The options '_Lunch'_ and '_Dinner'_ were greyed out.

"Want something to drink?" Ranma asked Kasumi as she played with the tablet.

"What do they have?" Kasumi asked, leaning over to see. To make it easier Ranma set the device back into its cradle. "Oh, wow that's a lot of tea options."

"Over three hundred I think." Ranma said, watching as Kasumi scrolled down the alphabetic list of teas.

"Hmm… Jasmine perhaps? Or maybe earl grey… ooh I haven't tasted that one before… hmmm…" Kasumi frowned at the tablet. "I think Darjeeling today." She decided after a minute, placing the request. The screen flashed 'Thank you, your Tea will be served in five minutes' before returning to the main menu.

Taking the tablet back Ranma placed an order for her own tea, something with a decidedly Chinese name she couldn't pronounce, but recognized from her time over there. Then she ordered quite a few pastries and cookies. Moments later a notification appeared informing her that all orders would be delivered in ten minutes, except for the tea. That was apparently already on its way.

Setting the tablet down Ranma stood up and stepped over to the railing. The railings were low, probably to make sure someone sitting in the chairs could see the stage, and only came up to her hips. Leaning against it she leaned out to take a look around. Down below, in the floor seats, hundreds of students were still flooding into their seats. The balconies to her immediate right and left were empty, though she could see others that had girls sitting in groups chatting as they waited. There were a couple rows of them, the top row which she was part of that wrapped around the entire auditorium, and a second row immediately below them. A few more were on the level of the second level gallery of seats to either side of the stage in the gap between the stage and gallery gallery seating.

On the same level as them, on the opposite side of the auditorium, she could see the black-haired girl from next door, Rin, sitting by herself in one of the boxes sipping tea and looking thoroughly bored.

"The idea of getting a box seat in an auditorium is just… Are all rich schools like this?" Ranma asked Kasumi, who shrugged.

"Why would I know?" She asked, flipping through her hand outs. She paused to stare at a page. "Ranma…"

"Yeah?" Ranma turned from watching the crowds that were filling up the low level seats.

"They have a music intermission half way through." Kasumi said flatly, turning the papers around.

"What?" Ranma grabbed her own handouts and started flipping through. Sure enough, on the backside of page five, she found the schedule for the assembly. Slapped in between a speech by the Student Council President and announcements concerning new school rules was a forty minute 'musical intermission' by a local singer.

"Well that's weird." Ranma said, raising an eyebrow at the page.

"Welcome to the standards of St. Gloriana's I guess?" Kasumi offered, getting a sigh from Ranma.

She folded up the hand out and set it down with one hand, the other toying with the earrings she was wearing. "I guess we're going to have to get used to them." She frowned. It felt strange to be wearing jewelry to school of all places, and not for some scheme or prank. Hell, she was probably wearing more in jewelry right now than Nabiki had ever made by scamming people. Unless Nabiki had managed more than she had realized… Well there was Kuno…

A knock on the door brought her out of her thoughts and, waving Kasumi to stay seated, she walked over and opened the door. "Hello?" She greeted the well dressed young man with a serving cart covered in teapots and cups.

"Miss Saotome?" He asked.

"Yes?"

"Your teas and cups have arrived. My apologies for being late." He said, bowing slightly to her.

She blinked. He was late? She hadn't noticed. "No problem. Put them on the table." She said, stepping aside and letting the man into the box. Kasumi cleared a spot on the small table to the teapots as the man brought them over, then went back for the cups. In moments he was gone, leaving a steaming pot of tea, a plate of sugar and cream, and four cups. Why he thought they needed four cups she had to wonder.

As Kasumi poured out the tea Ranma sat back down, sighing. She rubbed the side of her forehead out of habit as she stared down at the stage, presently empty except for a single stand and microphone. This was…

"Tea?" Kasumi offered, holding out a teacup on a small plate.

"Thank you Kasumi." Ranma sighed, accepting the cup of darjeeling tea and sipping it. She straightened up and crossed one leg over the other. "It's good tea."

"If it wasn't I'd be disappointed." Kasumi replied, sipping her own as she flipped through the hand out. "So we have the assembly, then a break for lunch, then homeroom for… until the end of classes apparently. Well that's a bit long."

Ranma retrieved her hand-out and began flipping through it as she sipped her tea. "I guess they do things differently here." She said, finding the schedule for the next few days. The rest of the week was listed as Homeroom which was… odd to say the least.

The next ten minutes passed with them flipping through their handouts before there was another knock on the door. One trip to the door and back again ended with their small table being buried under plates of pastries and cookies.

Kasumi sighed and dropped her booklet back into her bag. She gave Ranma a look. "If it was anyone else I'd be asking how you were thinking of eating all of that." She said.

Ranma pushed a plate of cookies towards Kasumi. "I have no idea what you mean." She said, taking a bite of a strawberry jam stuffed roll.

Rolling her eyes Kasumi pulled out her phone and powered it up. A moment later Ranma heard the tell-tale noises of a game being played on her phone. Deciding to ignore the beeps and boops coming from Kasumi's phone she continued to go over the hand out. Most of it was a reminder of school rules, expectations, and a schedule of upcoming events at the school.

Eventually the flood of people coming into the room came to a close and the lights around the auditorium dimmed. Ranma looked up her booklet as the room, every box, balcony, and the entirety of the floor seats, fell quiet as the older woman from the front door walked out on stage. Ranma could just barely make out the mic of the wireless microphone the woman was wearing as she strode confidently out onto the stage.

"Welcome," She began, her voice warm and rich. "Another year has just ended, and yet another has begun. To all of you returning for another year, I am happy to see you again. To those just joining us, welcome! My name is Mitsuko Takei, but you can call me Tieguanyin, I am the Headmistress here at St. Gloriana's."

"That name sounds Chinese." Ranma commented to Kasumi as the Headmistress continued with her greetings.

"It's one of the most expensive teas in the world Ranma." Kasumi replied as she shut down her phone, "I think it would make a dent in even your family's finances."

"Ah."

Down below the Headmistress had moved on from her greetings. "Let us start today with some announcements. I'm sure some of you have seen the signs around the chemistry building. It is still off limits after the incident at the end of the year and will remain so until next week." She paused. "I hope I don't have to remind our chemistry club as to why our rules exist after this incident."

Ranma snickered. It seemed that chemistry clubs were a problem everywhere, not just Furinkan. Announcements continued for a while and included, amongst other things, new restrictions for science clubs, a new cafe opening by the auditorium,

"Finally, let me hand the microphone over to our very own Student Council President Ginsing and Student Council Vice-President Qi Lan." The headmistress applauded as she stepped aside to allow the two girls to come forward from the wings of the stage. There was a heavy applause from the floor, but somewhat lighter applause from the boxes.

The first girl, a tall brunette with her hair in pair of buns on either side of her head, politely accepted the microphone from the Headmistress. "Hello everyone, welcome back for another year. I am Ginsing, your student council President." She said raising her other hand to wave. "And this is Qi Lan, your student council Vice-President." She gestured to the shorter blonde with long straight hair beside her. The blonde girl waved to the crowd, getting somewhat more applause than her companion.

Ranma sipped her second cup of tea as she watched and listened. "Well they're getting quite the reaction." Kasumi commented.

"Yep." It was clear that both of them were popular with the larger student body.

"To start today off we're here to go over some of the upcoming events leading up to the summer. Starting with our annual Club Fair!" She called raising both hands up. The cheering was loud enough Ranma winced a bit. Once it died down a bit the president continued on. "Yes, I know everyone loves the fair." She said.

"This year we have a few stand out features. First, our Sensha-do Club under Orange Pekoe has something new they'll be sharing with us this year! You can find them at their usual spot in the pavilion on the sports fields." Ginsing continued.

Ranma shot a glance at Kasumi. "Think those are the tanks?" She asked.

"Unless they have something else they were planning on showing off." Kasumi replied, "I mean, it's entirely possible that it's something else."

"I guess." Ranma said sipping her tea. She nibbled on a pastry as the president continued on her list of features.

"The Library will be hosting an art gallery featuring the works of some of our recently graduated alumnae." She continued, "The culinary arts club has recently acquired three more food carts and two food trucks, all of which will be serving food around campus throughout the entire Fair. I've had a chance to try some of their new dishes and I think all of you will love them."

Ranma tuned the president out as she continued her spiel. She poured another cup of tea, added a touch of sugar and cream to it then took a sip. It was alright, but Darjeeling really wasn't her favourite tea.

Eventually the president moved on from the club fair to other events that would take place before the summer. None of it was on the same level as the fair ranging from tournaments to a couple of small concerts and a play.

"And now," The President said after a full half hour of speaking, "Allow me to pass the microphone back to our Headmistress Tieguanyin!" The room applauded as Ginsing passed the microphone back to the Headmistress as she came back on stage before quickly departing into the wings.

"Thank you ladies for sharing with us the amazing events that our school will be playing host to over the next few months." The Headmistress said, "Now, I know that was a lot of information, and we do have a bit more to share, but before we get to that I'd like to invite onto the stage our own English Folk Music Club, and their star singer Miss Oka-Moe."

A five girl band walked out onto the stage, four of them carrying instruments as a few people dressed in black quickly brought out stools for them to sit on and several additional microphones.

The performance took up the next forty minutes and to Ranma it was… Well, the singing was good, far better than some things she had been subjected to, but the style… maybe it would grow on her, but at the moment it just wasn't her thing. By the time the forty minute performance had finished Ranma was only managing to hang onto wakefulness, due to the lessons on etiquette she had been given over the last couple of weeks. Getting caught sleeping during the assembly would look rather bad.

Eventually though the band wrapped up to enthusiastic applause, so they seemed to be popular with the school at least. Ushering them off stage the Headmistress smile widely at the gathered school. "Thank you everyone for showing your support for that beautiful performance." She said as the stools and extra microphones were cleared away, "Now, I have a few more things to bring up before I send you off to lunch. If all of you would turn to page fifteen of your hand outs, which you should have remembered to pick up."

There was a loud ruffling of paper as everyone in the auditorium fished out their booklets and flipped to the correct page.

"Everyone good? Excellent." Tieguanyin nodded to the students in the front row. "Now, there have been a few changes to the rules as a result of several incidents last year. First, anyone caught trying to synthesize explosives in the chemistry lab without a written letter of permission will be getting suspended for a week. Two if it happens again. If this happens three times it won't be suspension you will have to worry about, but something far worse."

According to the booklet 'parents would be called and further punishments would be decided up to and possibly including expulsion'. Ranma snorted. Well, it seemed they took explosions taking out part of the campus more seriously than Furinkan High had at least. She'd put money on this being a response to the chemistry building exploding.

The Headmistress looked over the crowds of students with a stern expression, and Ranma was fairly sure her eyes lingered on a small group of girls wearing red bows in their hair before moving on. Finally, her expression softened. "Of course after last semester I'm sure everyone here is disinclined to experiment that way. I would hate to be let down on this fact." She said.

A shiver ran through the group of bow wearing students.

"Now, other changes to the rules include…" The rest of the announcements were rather dry, though informative. You were not, for example, allowed to bring blue rabbits near the aftward port kennels near the library. How you would _get_ blue rabbits in the first place Ranma didn't know, but they were now banned. Ranma had the feeling there was probably a strange story behind it.

Other odd things included a ban on red motorcycles on property, which was apparently in addition to having banned motorcycles entirely the year before; a requirement that all fish tanks be inspected on a monthly basis by staff; and the apparent outlawing of a hairstyle that Ranma had never heard of before. Judging by some of the dismayed noises down below it might have been one of those strange fads going around.

"And that is it for the major changes to our policies at this time." Tieguanyin finished, "To anyone new you can find the full rulebook either in the library, on our website, or available in the school supplies store. Now, with that out of the way I know many of you are getting hungry, it is now time for lunch. Welcome back everyone, please remember your homeroom number and enjoy the rest of the day." A deafening applause broke out as the Headmistress finished and headed off the stage.

Standing up, having finished her tea, Ranma stretched as she stepped up to the balcony railing and looked out on the auditorium. To her left Rin had already left. Whether the girl had waited for the Headmistress to finish or had simply left when she got bored she had no idea, but her box was already empty.

"Well that was long." Kasumi yawned, stretching herself like a cat that had gone too long without moving.

"A bit." Ranma agreed, pausing as she spotted a shock of red hair in one of the lower boxes. An older girl with hair that was almost the same shade as Ranma's was chatting with a small group on the lowest level of boxes across the way. She watched as the girl left the box with her friends.

"Ready to go?" Kasumi asked, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Hm? Oh. One sec." Ranma swept her booklet into her book bag and picked up the bag. "Alright. Let's go... Though, what are we doing for lunch?" She mused as they left the box.

Kasumi sighed. "You ate enough to put a full grown man into the hospital, and you're still hungry." She shook her head and dug out her phone. "Let me check the app and see what's on campus."

A few minutes later they had found a bench by the fountain in the plaza and were debating the options. There were, to their surprise, quite a few options for food on campus, though that only seemed to apply if 'English Food' was what you wanted.

"We could go here." Ranma pointed over Kasumi's shoulder at a spot on the map.

"We already decided no to three fish and chips places Ranma, why would suggest _another_ one." Kasumi sighed.

"It looks better than the other three." Ranma shrugged.

"Hrm.. I'm just surprised there are four of them on campus in the first place." Kasumi muttered loudly.

An amused laugh broke them out of their deep contemplation of the map. Looking up from Kasumi's phone they found a girl barely taller than Ranma with cherry pink hair wearing the St. Gloriana's uniform standing with a hand on her hip.

"Having issues deciding what to have?" She asked.

"A bit." Kasumi confessed.

"Who are you?" Ranma asked.

"Rosehip, commander of St. Gloriana's Crusaders." She bowed exaggeratedly. "And you are the Hayashida Heiress, Ranma Saotome right?" She asked Ranma.

"That's me." She admitted. The other girl grinned.

"Great, how about I show you and your friend a few of the good places around campus then? Sound good?" She asked.

Ranma looked to Kasumi who shrugged. Looking back at the older girl she shrugged. "Sure." She said, getting up. "Just you?"

"Pekoe decided she'd rather have lunch pouring over those tanks we got, left me with no one to go with right now since everyone else went with her." Rosehip shrugged. "C'mon, this way." Humming the rosette set off at a fast pace out of the plaza.

Sharing a bemused look Ranma and Kasumi followed the hyperactive 'older' girl.

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A/N: Hello everyone~ How are you doing? Good I hope~ *Waves Fluffy Tails* Here we go, the latest chapter of wGaE~ I hope you enjoy it~

Thank you to Gekkou_Yoko for your help with editing once again my adorable assistant~

I've recently started up a , link in my signature, if you feel like helping me out a bit please feel free to donate. *Hopeful Kitsune* The money goes towards freeing helping me with long term expenses and once it goes over a certain point I'll be putting the funds towards artwork for my stories.

To the people who have already backed me, thank you so much~

Have a great day everyone and I hope you liked the story~ *Fluffy Tails Wave again*

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